Dragon Age: The Lost Scrolls
by makutamon990
Summary: This is how a single serendipitous event can cause a chain reaction of consequences, even through Time and Space.
1. Prologue part 1

This is a story of how a seemingly serendipitous event can cause far reaching consequences, even through time and space...

—-

Prologue Part 1:

If you believe the old stories, mankind's pride gave rise to the darkspawn. Countless in number and toxic to all life darkspawn search endlessly for an Archdemon. When they find one, darkspawn armies surge up from their corrupt barrows beneath the ground-and a Blight begins. Grey Wardens are the only ones capable of destroying an Archdemon, and history always honors the one who sacrifices all to kill the beast.

But there is another tradition in Thedas, one that not only sounds impossible, but also dates back to Andraste herself. If a "wanderer from another world" (as Andraste calls them) arrives in Thedas seeking aid and gives validity to the claim that he or she is indeed from another world, You are to aid him or her in his task, and he or she will aid you in yours.

This seemingly impossible claim is often explained in what would come to be known as the Canticle of Vestiges. In it, Andraste tells the tale of how one of her followers had had his soul stolen by the Daedric Prince Molag Bal. But because Thedas was still somewhat weakened from the First Blight, Molag Bal attempted to physically pull Thedas into his realm of Coldharbour. Together with the Vestige, Andraste and her followers restored order to both Thedas and the seemingly mythical land of Tamriel before finally confronting Molag Bal in his realm of Coldharbour. Through the power of Andraste's faith in the Maker, the combat skills of the Vestige and Maferath, and the sacred power of the Amulet of Kings, Molag Bal was defeated, and the Vestige reclaimed his soul from bondage.

Ever since then, if a mysterious wanderer provides verifiable proof that they are from another world, if they are aided, they will aid you in return. While several had provided proof, most of the time they didn't have major events tied to them. There were only two such beings, both of them were tied to the blights.

During the Third Blight, a wandering mage confirmed that he was indeed such a wanderer, and that he was seeking an artifact called the Staff of Chaos in order to defeat Jagar Tharn, who had imprisoned Emperor Uriel Septim VII in the realm of Oblivion using such an artifact. He had then split the staff into eight pieces to insure that it could never be used against him. The wardens at the time helped recover the eight pieces, reforge the Staff of Chaos, defeat Jagar Tharn, and rescue Uriel VII from Oblivion.

But the Third Blight was still to be dealt with. In gratitude for his rescue, Uriel VII gave the title of Eternal Champion to his rescuer and granted a legion of his best soldiers to aid the Grey Wardens. In the final battle, the Staff of Chaos (which hadn't returned to Oblivion due to the aid of the Grey Wardens), in the hands of the Eternal Champion, had its full strength unleashed against the Archdemon. This weakened the Archdemon enough for the Grey Wardens to kill it without sacrificing a Grey Warden's life, but it came with a terrible cost. The Staff was shattered back into its eight pieces, and the magic unleashed not only killed the Eternal Champion, but also disintegrated his body.

—-

During the Fourth Blight, another wanderer appeared and called himself the Champion of Daggerfall. His mission was to reassemble the brass golem known as the Anumidium as well as recover the Totem of Tiber Septim and the Mantella, the control and power source. Both were recovered and given to the Grey Wardens, who used the Anumidium to wage war against the Darkspawn. But before the Anumidium could destroy the Archdemon, both it and the Champion of Daggerfall vanished. Fortunately the Archdemon had been weakened enough for the Grey Wardens to finish it off.

After investigation, the Grey Wardens delivered a bewildering, and seemingly contradictory report. According to the report, each of the four now well-established kingdoms of Daggerfall, Sentinel, Wayrest, and Betony had been given the Mantella and the Totem while the orsimer kingdom of Orsinium had received them; The infamous Mannimarco, King of Worms, had used the Mantella the Champion had given him to become a god; the Empire of Cyrodiil had regained control of the Anumidium and used it to prevent a major war; and the underking had used the Mantella to grant himself death. All of these had been rather surprised to learn that the Champion had given the Totem and Mantella to the Grey Wardens so they could end the Fourth Blight. Eventually, this result was accepted as a consequence of the Dragon Break, as everyone else called it, but this left one question by the Grey Wardens unanswered: How much magical energy would it take to create a Dragon Break? In Tevinter, it became a bit more accepted that the creation of the darkspawn was the result of a Dragon Break, even though it wasn't what those in the Southern kingdoms of Thedas believed.

—-

In the Fifth Blight, the Warden was the Hero of Ferelden: Aedan, youngest child of Ferelden's powerful teryn Cousland. Betrayal saw the Cousland's ancestral castle burn, and the teryn and his wife slain. Duncan, a Grey Warden, helped the young noble escape to a new life with the Wardens. The allied Ferelden and Grey Warden forces met in Ostagar, where King Cailan's armies and a host of Wardens gathered, ready to destroy the darkspawn. But valor turned to despair as Loghain Mac Tyr betrayed his king. Cailan's forces were slaughtered, and the south was lost.

The Hero, now a full-fledged Grey Warden, survived with the aid of Flemeth, the mysterious Witch of the Wilds. Joined by Flemeth's daughter, Morrigan, a Grey Warden named Alistair, and a mysterious dark elf named Tarin, the Hero set out to build an army strong enough to abolish the Blight. With the traitorous Loghain now seated on Ferelden's throne, the Wardens sought help from the influential Arl Eamon of Redcliffe. However, they arrived in Redcliffe to find the town under siege, as each night, undead rose in waves and assailed the battered village. With the Hero's help, the people of Redcliffe stood fast against the undead horde.

The Wardens reached Arl Eamon's castle only to find the arl lying at the edge of death, and his court fallen into madness. To save his father's life, Eamon's young son, Connor, had made a deal with a demon-and had quickly fallen victim to its possession. The Hero intervened, freeing Connor from possession and breaking the demon's hold over Redcliffe. But deals with demons are never straightforward: the demon only agreed to save Eamon's life, not restore him to health. Arl Eamon needed a miracle to recover.

The Hero located an urn containing the Sacred Ashes of Andraste, which were said to cure any ailment. The urn was protected by ancient traps, tests of will, and a dragon-worshipping cult that wanted to twist the urn's power to its own ends. The urn remained pure, but mysteriously disappeared after the Wardens departed. Only the temple dedicated to it still stands. With a pinch of the ashes, the Hero restored the arl to health. Informed of Loghain's trechary, Eamon swore his political and military support. But the path to collect the sacred ashes was not without casualty.

A mysterious dark elf named Dagoth Gares had also been attempting to twist the power of the Urn to his own ends. A priest of an unknown entity (at the time) named Dagoth Ur, Dagoth Gares could not be allowed to desecrate the sacred ashes, but he delivered a strange message to Tarin, telling him to come to the Red Mountain to aid him in his struggle against the Tribunal and the Empire. The Hero misinterpreted what the message was, and thought him to be a darkspawn Emmisary, so both he and Tarin did battle with Gares. But even as Gareth died, he put the curse of Corprus on Tarin. After restoring Arl Eamon to Health, The Hero returned to the Temple with Tarin, but the urn containing the ashes was gone.

In desperation, the Hero and Tarin sought aid from the oldest and most mysterious wizard of the Dunmer Race, Divayth Fyr. With his aid, Tarin was cured of all the negative aspects of the Corpus. Afterwards, they followed a trail of clues to why Tarin survived while all other test subjects died. The path eventually led them to a place called the Cavern of the Incarnate. Upon entering the cavern, The ancient ring One-Clan-Under-Moon-And-Star was found. Tarin donned the ring, proving beyond doubt that he was the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of the ancient Chimer warlord Indoril Nerevar, and the "Wanderer from Another World" spoken of in the Chant of Light. In response, the Hero and Nerevarine swore allegiance with each other in Azura's name to aid each other against their foes.

The Circles of Magi are bound by oath to aid the Grey Wardens in times of Blight. However, Lake Calenhad's tower could offer little help: one of its mages, Uldred, had become possessed by a pride demon and was twisting other Circle mages into abominations. After the Nerevarine proved himself to House Telvanni and was thereby named Hortator of House Telvanni, both he and the Hero, bolstered by House Telvanni mages, fought theair way to the top of the tower and defeated Uldred, saving the remaining mages. Grateful for their lives, the mages joined the Warden's army. The allies gained at the Circle and House Telvanni were not the only forces to join the united forces, however.

Dalish Elves don't usually make alliances, but even deep hatred can be set aside in the face of oblivion. An ancient curse was destroying Ferelden's largest Dalish clans, turning the elves into werewolves. Zathrian, the clan's Keeper, claimed that the cure required the heart of the great wolf Witherfang. Years before, Zathrian himself had afflicted a group of humans with the curse that now ravaged his clan. As long as he lived, the curse endured. But a mysterious tip from when Tarin was getting named Hortator of House Hlaalu pointed out a way to free the werewolves from their long-standing curse, which originated on the Island of Solstheim. Following up on the clue lead to Solstheim dealing with the Bloodmoon Prophecy, which in turn lead the Hero and Nerevarine to Hircine, Daedric Prince of the Hunt. With Hircine's aid, The Hero freed the werewolves from the curse, and the Dalish and Human Werewolves joined the united forces.

Blights may happen hundreds of years apart, but the dwarves who lived below the surface of Thedas fight darkspawn every day. No one is better schooled in battling darkspawn than the warriors of Orzammar-except perhaps their allies of old, the Grey Wardens. But before traveling to Orzammar, there was still House Redoran's task to name Tarin Hortator.

The task went a little awry when a group of intelligent darkspawn arrived in House Redoran's territorry. Investigations led to a mysterious darkspawn dressed like a king who referred to himself as the Architect. As it turned out, he was indirectly responsible for causing the Fifth Blight by one of his experiments to separate darkspawn from the hive mind of the Blight went sideways. With the Hero and Nerevarine's help, the Architect's experiment was reigned in, and during such an adventure, Tarin was also able to be named Hortator by House Redoran.

The Hero and Nerevarine arrived in Orzammar in the wake of King Endrin's death to find political factions fighting for control of the dwarven capital. Only the vote of a venerated Paragon could break the deadlock—and order the dwarves to honor their Grey Warden treaty and join the battle against the new Blight. The Hero and Nerevarine set off to find a paragon named Branka who had disappeared into the Deep Roads in search of a legendary artifact: The Anvil of the Void, created by the renowned smith Caridin to forge mighty war golems. During the adventure, evidence was discovered that the Sorcerer-Priest Kagrenac and Caridin were collaborators, but they had a falling out due to what both of them described as a "flawless specimen" or "prototype" proved too difficult to control. Not only that, Kagrenac had used what he learned from collaborating with Caridin to create the Anumidium.

With Branka's help, The Hero restored the Anvil of the Void, and a small army of powerful, sentient golems joined the Warden's forces, commanded by Caridin thanks to the Nerevarine convincing Caridin that binding a Golem to a control rod should only be used if, and only if, a condemned criminal is being used to create a golem and execution is too good for said criminal.

The Hero and Nerevarine emerged from the deep roads with a master-forged crown, crafted by both Branka and Caradin, to bestow the Paragon's favor on whichever rival candidate would be crowned king: Bhelen, the youngest son of King Endrin who was suspected of foul play, or Harrowmont, the aging traditionalist backed by the dwarven assembly. Bhelen followed his father's footsteps to the throne. He leads with a ruthless, but progressive, hand, seeking to reestablish ties to the surface kingdoms.

But there was still one task left for Tarin. He had to prove himself to the four Ashlander tribes of Morrowind in order to fulfill his destiny and confront Dagoth Ur. During the last of such missions, an attack by a Dark Brotherhood assassin led the Hero and Nerevarine, who had now taken to calling their united army the Manmer Alliance, to believe that a powerful enemy had taken notice of them. A clue on the assassin pointed them to the capital city of Morrowind, Mournhold, while another clue pointed to Ferelden's capital city of Denerim, and a third clue pointed to Red Mountain. This also showed that they still had to deal with Loghain so Ferelden could stand unified against the darkspawn—before the Blight swallowed the world.

The Kingdom of Ferelden stood divided: while some nobles supported Loghain's regency, others condemned his inaction against the Blight. Civil war brewed, and Arl Eamon called a Landsmeet in hopes of curtailing the conflict and removing Loghain from the throne. As penance, Loghain was sentenced to join the Grey Wardens and fight darkspawn until the end of his days. During the Landsmeet, Loghain was able to prove that he had nothing to do with the Dark Brotherhood assassin, thereby pointing the Blame at either being from Mournhold, or Red Mountain.

Eventually, the Hero and Nerevarine decided to look into the Red Mountain clue. This eventually led the to the Living God Vivec. Eventually, The Nerevarine forgave Vivec and received Wraithguard in return. He eventually decided that Vivec's pennance was that he should join the Grey Wardens after Dagoth Ur was defeated.

With Keening, Sunder, and Wraithguard in hand, the Hero and Nerevarine confronted Dagoth Ur and saw his weapon, Akulakhan. Eventually, the Heart of Lorkhan, the source of both Dagoth Ur's life force and Akulakhan's power, was sundered, thereby allowing Dagoth Ur to be defeated, but before engaging him in combat, Dagoth Ur was able to prove that he also was not responsible for the Dark Brotherhood Assassin, leaving Mournhold as the only option left.

Upon arriving in Mournhold, the Hero and Nerevarine met another Living God, Almalexia. Upon learning about the assassination attempt, Almalexia pointed to the third Living God, Sotha Sil. But upon recovering and reforging of Nerevar's old sword, Trueflame, Sotha Sil was found to be already dead, and Almalexia was revealed to be the one responsible. Reasoning with her was not possible, since she had been driven mad by the Heart of Lorkhan, and the Hero and Nerevarine were forced to kill her.

Now while the Manmer alliance massed in Redcliffe, and Vivec was successfully initiated into the Grey Wardens, the darkspawn overran Denerim, laying siege to Ferelden's capital city.

The Manmer alliance fought valiantly through Denerim and broke the darkspawn siege. On Fort Drakon's highest tower, the Hero and Nerevarine's strongest allies fought alongside the Warden in a final heroic battle against the massive Archdemon. The Archdemon was killed without the sacrifice of a Grey Warden's life, through a combined attack by both the Nerevarine and the Hero of Ferelden. With no Archdemon to lead them, the darkspawn scattered. Most fled underground, still teeming in number and always seeking a new Archdemon to awaken.

The shattered Kingdom of Ferelden embarked on a long journey to recovery. In the Blight's aftermath, strong leadership was crucial. Alistair, King Cailan's half-brother, and Queen Anora, Cailan's widow and daughter of Loghain, joined in a political union. Together, they ushered in a new era.

The newly-named Hero of Ferelden and the Nerevarine accompanied each other on several more adventures each. But eventually the two of them parted ways when the Nerevarine left on an expedition to Akaviir. But before he got on the ship, he promised:

"If the Dunmer or Thedas need me, I will come."

Ferelden still stands, as obstinate and resolute as the dog lords ever are, but the events of the Fifth Blight loom over it as the nation rebuilds. For people across Thedas and Morrowind, legends of the Hero of Ferelden and the Nerevarine remain both nations' brightest beacons of hope during their darkest times. Even now, it's not uncommon to hear dark elves pray to the Nerevarine during battle.

To be continued in Dragon Age: The Lost Scrolls Prologue II...


	2. Prologue part 2

Prologue Part II

It all began in Kirkwall: The Fall of Knight-Commander Meredith, The Qunari Uprising, and The Daedric Skirmish. And of course, the Chantry's destruction and the onset of mage rebellion. Two people always stood amidst the swirling chaos: Garret Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall; and Andrew the Great, Champion of Cyrodiil.

The Hawke family fled Lothering, refugees from the Blight. Leandra, mother of the Champion and siblings Bethany and Carver, hoped to find refuge at her family's estate in Kirkwall, far to the north. While Hawke had no magical abilities, Both he and Andrew were at the heart of events that ultimately led to mage rebellion.

The Hawkes escaped the Blight with the help from Aveline Vallen, a warrior and family friend. It's said that the family were also aided by Flemeth, the notorious Witch of the Wilds. But just when Hawke had to make a difficult choice, he was aided by Andrew the Great, a native from Cyrodiil who had come from Tamriel to Thedas in hope of finding peace and quiet after the events in his own world. With his help, both Bethany and Carver safely made it to the Free Marches.

The family's first years in Kirkwall were difficult: Leandra's brother, Gamlen, had lost the family fortune. The Hawkes lived in poverty, forced to indenture themselves in return for entrance to the city. Andrew did what he could, but he couldn't keep the Hawkes from incurring an astonishing debt, though it was less than what it otherwise would have been. To pay off the debt, Hawke and Andrew were forced to work for a band of mercenaries. All the while, Hawke and Alexander did their best to hide Bethany and Carver's magic from the templars.

Opportunity eventually struck in the form of a dwarf named Bartrand Tethras, who was planning an expedition to the Deep Roads. It was a long shot, but with gold gained from the expedition, Hawke and Alexander could free the Hawke family from their criminal creditors—and further templar scrutiny.

Hawke met a rogue Grey Warden named Anders who possessed detailed maps of the Deep Roads. These maps were crucial to the expedition's success; with Andrew's aid, Hawke obtained the maps, and once he did, everything else fell quickly into place. Bethany and Carver joined Hawke and Andrew on the expedition. The siblings found ancient dwarven treasure—and a statuette formed from a strange, red lyrium. Bethany and Carver both fell victim to the Blight that suffuses the Deep Roads, but Anders led them to a group of Grey Wardens who were able to save their lives.

The gold Hawke and Andrew recovered from the Deep Roads bought back Leandra's stately childhood home in Hightown. The Hawkes had barely settled into their new home when Leandra was murdered—a deeply twisted and sinister killing. Hawke and Andrew both hunted down Quentin, the blood mage responsible, but couldn't prevent Leandra's death. To comfort him, Andrew told Hawke about how he tried to prevent Emperor Uriel Septim VII's death, but ultimately couldn't. It helped Hawke feel better but not by much.

Leandra's tragic death was part of a critical problem facing Kirkwall: rising tensions between the city's mages, who felt increasingly oppressed, and templars, who grew increasingly suspicious of their activities. Adding to the strain, a large contingent of Qunari had also established themselves in Kirkwall, much to the growing discomfort of the city's rulers. After their dreadnaught was shipwrecked many years before, a group of stranded Qunari were allowed to remain in a cordoned-off area in Lowtown. As time passed, the Qunari made no effort to return home, and offered no explanation about why they remained.

Tensions rose to a breaking point: Revered Mother Petrice, convinced the Qunari were a threat to the Chantry's faith, incited violence between between the Qunari and the Kirkwall populace. Both Hawke and Andrew knew that Petrice would bring about unnecessary conflict. Though both Champions tried to stop her, Petrice orchestrated the murder of Saemus Dumar, a viscount's son and recent convert to the Qun. When her crime was discovered, a Qunari assassin killed her. After Saemus was murdered, the Arishok of the Qunari group lost patience with the humans of Kirkwall, despite Andrew's attempts to calm him down: they would now submit to the Qun—or die.

The Qunari struck hard and fast, taking the palace in Hightown quickly. But when they barged into the viscount's room, they beheld a horrifying sight. As it turned out later, Quentin was the leader of a cult known as the Mythic Dawn, and second-In-command to Mankar Camoran. With Quentin's death, his followers had decided to accelerate their plans before they were ready. But when the Qunari barged in, the ritual they had designed to solidify their foothold in Thedas went awry. Both the vicount's soul and the souls of the participants were claimed by their master, Mehrunes Dagon, who used the magic released by the ritual to open an Oblivion Gate right in the palace, thereby allowing the Daedra to invade Thedas like they did Tamriel. When Hawke and Andrew caught up with him, the Arishok explained what had happened. But what was most surprising was Andrew's response.

"I thought I was rid of the Mehrunes Dragon and his Mythic Dawn forever." He had said, "But I now know that I must go... Back to Oblivion." The word 'back' filled the hearts of everyone who heard it with dread, more so than the sentence.

Aided by Knight-Commander Meredith, and First Enchanter Orsino, Hawke, Andrew and the Arishok entered the Oblivion Gate to retrieve the Sigil Stone. But when the got to the tower where the Sigil Stone was kept, they came face to face with Mehrunes Dagon himself. Impressed with Hawke and his allies for making it this far, but also enraged for meeting the Champion of Cyrodiil again, whom had thwarted many of his conquests in Cyrodiil, Mehrunes Dagon set them a task before they could get the Sigil Stone:

Within the tower were five of Dagon's best Dremora Xilvilai Berserkers. They had to kill each one and offer the hearts in order to gain access to the Sigilium Sanguis. It was difficult, but Hawke's allies were able to rise to the occasion. But Dagon's last words as the Oblivion Gate closed made everyone nervous.

"Don't think that this is over yet. Dagon does not declare a winner while there's a pawn still on the board."

Afterwards, over drinks in Kirkwall's finest tavern, Hawke finally learned why the Qunari had remained in Kirkwall. Hawke's ally, Isabella, was a notorious raider—and ultimately responsible for the crisis: she had stolen the Tome of Koslun from the Qunari, who remained in Kirkwall to search for it. Isabela returned the book, and Hawke let the Qunari take her prisoner as penance. Finally appeased, the Qunari returned home peacefully, though Isabela would escape later, leaving the book. Upon returning to Par Vollen, the Arishok of the Qunari found both the Qunari equivalent of a court marshal and a commendation ceremony waiting for him.

Hawke saved Kirkwall and earned the grudging respect of the city's templars, mages, and nobility—along with the title that history remembers: The Champion of Kirkwall.

Kirkwall's troubles still weren't over yet, and Mehrunes Dagon's revenge hadn't reached fruition yet.

After Viscount Dumar's death, Knight-Commander Meredith took power and blocked all attempts to appoint a new viscount. Under Meredith's command, the templars tightened their grip on the mages, planning to surpress what Meredith saw as a growing rebellion. Anders, who had spent years fighting for justice and freedom for his fellow mages, saw that the time for negotiation was past. Although Andrew tried to stop him, he destroyed Kirkwall's chantry, killing hundreds—including Grand Cleric Elthina. This single act began a rebellion that spread from Circle to Circle—until all Circles of Magi had risen up in defiance against Chantry rule. There was no forgiveness for what Anders had done, and he asked for death at Hawke's hands. But before Hawke could fulfill the troubled mage's final request, Mehrunes Dagon revealed himself and said that he had greatly approved of Anders' act, saying that "sometimes great death and destruction are needed to bring about positive change." As a final insult, he called Anders his "new seed of the Mythic Dawn". After that, Anders turned himself into the authorities and died by Hawke and Andrew's hands.

Fighting spread swiftly through the city: some mages rebelled openly, many succumbing to possession. Templars turned their swords on those who rebelled—and on those who did not. As First Enchanter Orsino refused to bend to the templars, Knight-Commander Meredith demanded that every mage in Kirkwall be put to the sword. Hawke saved many mages from templar blades, keeping them from succumbing to possession or the temptations of blood magic. In the end, however, Hawke was forced to strike down Orsino, who had betrayed his own values by resorting to blood magic himself. It turned out later that Orsino had found the infamous Mysterium Xarxes, and drowned in the knowledge he had found there.

Andrew, who had joined with the templars in an attempt to dethrone Meredith and steer them away from violence, brought back with him a report that chilled Hawke's blood. He reported that the templars were using a strange form of lyrium, which happened to be red. In the end the battle proved one thing: Knight-Commander Meredith had gone mad. Hawke and Andrew saw the truth of it when Meredith unsheathed her sword—and the red lyrium idol from the Deep Roads was embedded within it. The blade fueled her hatred and paranoia, as it had for months. After a horrific battle, during which Andrew had become bound by chains of energy "flowing" from crystals of red lyrium, the red lyrium of the Knight-Commander's sword consumed her as she died: Meredith became a statue, her face a frozen mask of horror. Little is known of the two Champions since that final battle. However, Hawke and Andrew the Great's story lives on in legend and song—memories of the indelible changes the Two Champions brought to the face of Thedas.

The mage rebellion in Kirkwall was felt throughout Thedas, the news spreading like wildfire. The Templars clamped down in response... but each new restriction only made things worse. Led by Grand Enchanter Fiona, the mages voted for independence. The Circle of Magi would govern itself, without the Chantry and especially without the Templars. The result was cataclysmic. Two circles were destroyed, those within killed to the last mage, before the rest fled into the wilderness. Perhaps the empires of Orlais and Cyrodiil could have intervened in the war before it began, but it was not to be. Led by the Thalmor, the newly re-established Aldmeri Dominion had launched the Great War against Cyrodiil; While Grand Duke Gaspard began a deadly civil war against Empress Celene, vying for the Orlesian throne. The mages were offered safe haven in neighboring Ferelden, but the Templars followed, and so their battle spread across all of Thedas. As head of the Chantry, Divine Justinia V ordered the Templars to stand down. They refused, declaring their own independence. Thus the war began, Templars hunting mages, mages fighting Templars. Their clashes wreaked untold destruction, and all sense of order was falling to pieces. Divine Justinia made one final desperate bid to end the war. She approached the leaders of both sides and convinced them to come to a conclave held on neutral ground. With the Chantry to mediate, mages and templars will talk for the first time since this all began. It is our last—and perhaps our only—chance for peace.

Alas that this was never meant to be...

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally he became a hero."

-Sister Leliana, on the Lord Inquisitor.


	3. Chapter 1: The Arrival

Chapter 1: Arrival

My name is Maxwell Trevelyan. I was born and raised in Ostwick, and most of my family still live there. All my life I seem to stumble right into trouble without intending to. My grandfather says that it's the result of a 1500 year old curse on the Trevelyan family. But if you ask my parents about it, mom will say that 'There's no curse on this family.', while dad would rebuff it by saying 'There is on the MEN in this family.' I was supposed to be at the Conclave helping out relatives with the mediation between the mages and the Templars, but the family curse struck again. I guess that's how I ended up like this, with my hands bound, my left hand glowing green, and people pointing swords at me. Although I don't remember what happened, I'll do my best to stick it out.

—

One second everything was just fine, with mages and templars moving in two lines towards the Conclave being held in the, relatively recently discovered, Temple of Sacred Ashes. The next, there was a massive explosion of magical energy. Those who were closest to the epicenter were killed instantly, either disintegrating to ash or transformed into flash-preserved corpses with flaming eye sockets. That was mercy for them. For those who were well enough away to avoid certain death, it was much worse. For them, they saw a magical energy vortex rise up from the ruins and literally cut a hole into the sky. In the aftermath of the vortex, several forward scouts made their way through the vitrified rocks and remains of stone masonry walls. They turned a corner just in time to see a rift open up briefly and "spit" a man out of it.

He had dark brown skin, stubbornly untidy dark red hair, deep blue eyes, and a slight mustache. He also had a huge scar running down from ear to chin, and a facial tattoo in the artistic shape of a skull in deep blue. As soon as he came out of the rift (which sealed itself behind him), he collapsed unconscious and smoking slightly. His left hand was flaring with seemingly unstable magic that most people couldn't identify or figure out, so in a way he was responsible, so he was brought to Haven for an explanation.

As soon as Cassandra and Leliana had arrived in the interrogation chamber, it was clear that a quick answer wasn't to be found.

"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now?" interrogated Cassandra, "The Conclave is destroyed. Everyone there is dead, except for you.

"What do you mean everyone's dead?" Asked Max, much to everyone's surprise and disbelief.

"Explain _this_." Commanded Cassandra, holding up the hand with the green mark on it.

"I... can't." Responded Max.

"What do you mean you _can't_?" Asked Cassandra, disbelievingly.

"I don't know what that is, or how it got there." Said Max.

"You're lying!" Exclaimed Cassandra, grabbing hold of Max, but Leliana hauled her back a little bit.

"We need him Cassandra." She said placatingly.

"I can't believe it. All of those people... dead?" Max said, emotionally.

"Do you remember what happened? How this began?" Asked Leliana, a bit less aggressively.

"I remember running." Said Max, shakily and with an effort. "_Things_ were chasing me. Then... a woman."

"A woman?" Asked Leliana, a little surprised.

"She reached out to me. And then..." Max continued, before trailing off with uncertainty.

"Go to the forward camp, Leliana." Cassandra finally said, "I'll take him to the rift."

"What _did_ happen?" Asked Max.

"It's will be easier to show you." Said Cassandra, removing his shackles, but binding his hands.

Leading him outside, Cassandra pointed him toward where there was now a hole in the sky, with three boulders seemingly levitating beneath it.

"We call it the Breach. It's a massive rift into the world of demons which grows bigger with each passing hour." Explained Cassandra, "It's not the only such rift, just the biggest. All of them were caused the explosion at the Conclave."

"An explosion can do that?" Asked Max.

"This one did." Answered Cassandra. "If it is not dealt with, the Breach will grow until it swallows the world." At that moment, there was a sudden pulse from the Breach. In seemingly sympathetic reaction, the mark flared up, causing Max intense pain.

"Every time the Breach grows, your mark spreads... and it is killing you." Continued Cassandra. It may be the key to stopping this, but there isn't much time."

"You say that it _may _be the key... to doing what?" Asked Max, really wanting to know.

"To closing the Breach. Whether that is possible remains to be seen. It is our only chance, however. And yours."

"You still think I did this? To myself?" Asked Max, slightly indignantly.

"Not intentionally." Answered Cassandra. "_Something_ clearly went wrong."

"And if I'm not responsible?" Asked Max.

"Someone is," Said Cassandra, "And you're our only suspect. You wish to prove your innocence? This is the only way."

After that, Max took a deep breath and said, "Alright."

"Then...?" Said Cassandra uncertainly.

"I'll do what I can. Whatever it takes." Confirmed Max.

As Max was lead to the front gate, everyone stared at him, and not all of them were friendly or sympathetic.

"The people have decided your guilt." Said Cassandra in response to Max's confusion. "They need it. The people ofHaven mourns the Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between mages and templars. She called their leaders together, and now they are dead. We lash out like the sky, but we must learn to think beyond ourselves as she did."

After leading Max through the first gate, Cassandra unbound his hands.

A little confused, Max asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"Your mark must be tested on something smaller than the Breach." Replied Cassandra.

They then began moving across the bridge, through the second gate, and along the path. Not long after, Max could see the vortex of energy coming from the Breach and seemingly touching the ground amongst the ruins of Sacred Ashes. But before he could reach the second bridge, the mark flared up again, bringing Max to his knees. Cassandra helped him to his feet with him looking very miserable.

"The pulses are coming faster." She explained, "The bigger the Breach gets, the more rifts appear, and the more demons we face."

"How_ did_ I survive the blast?" Asked Max, which was the one thing that was on his mind.

"They said you... stepped out of a rift, then fell unconscious." Said Cassandra, uncertainty, "They also said that a woman was behind you. No one knows who she was. Everything farther in the valley was laid waste, including the Temple of Sacred Ashes. But I'll suppose you'll see soon enough."

But as they reached the middle of the second bridge, a green meteorite from the Breach hit the bridge, sending everyone on it down to the river. Fortunately the river was frozen, but unfortunately demons had come with the meteorite.

Cassandra immediately began battling the demons, while Max grabbed a convenient sword and shield from nearby to do battle with the demon that spawned right in front of him. But when the demons lay dead, Cassandra almost immediately demanded that Max drop his weapon.

"All right." Said Max, "Have it your way."

"Wait," Said Cassandra before Max dropped the blade. "I cannot be expected to defend you all the time, and I can't expect you to be defenseless. I should remember that you agreed to come along willingly."

It took some more fighting to get to a small rift, but that was where everyone else was. After enough demons were killed, the mage fighting along side grabbed Max's glowing hand and brandished it at the rift. Magical energy surged forth from the mark, and eventually the rift was sealed.

In the calm after the storm, there was introductions all around. Max was able to meet both Varric and Solas, and they were able to meet Max in turn. Afterwards, everyone moved onward to the forward camp.

"I take it your from the Free Marches?" Asked Varric, much to Max's confusion. "Accent. I'm from Kirkwall. But you're from... further east, maybe?"

"That's some ear you have." Complimented Max, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm all kinds of impressive." Said Varric, much to Cassandra's derision.

Later Varric asked if Max really was innocent.

"I don't remember what happened." Max replied.

"That'll get you every time." Said Varric sadly, "You should have spun a story."

"That's what _you_ would have done." Said Cassandra.

"It's more believable, and less likely to result in premature execution." Replied Varric.

After that there was one final rift in the way to the Forward Camp, but fortunately everyone was able to deal with the demons, enabling Max to seal the rift.

To be continued in Chapter 2: The Breach in the Ruins


	4. Chapter 2: The Breach in the Ruins

Chapter 2: The Breach in the ruins

After a brief stock-up at a supply cache, Max and his group made it to the table at the forward camp. There, the Grand Chancellor ordered that Max be brought to Val Royeaux for execution. But Max managed to bring everyone's attention back to the Breach, then decided to take the mountain path to the Breach.

The mountain path cut right through an old mining camp, but Max was more curious about what could detain an entire squad of soldiers so quickly. After a few skirmishes with a few groups of demons, they managed to find a few bodies from the squad, but not all of them.

"The main priority is the Breach. Unless we seal it, no one is safe." Reminded Solas.

"I'm leaving _that_ the man with the glowing hand." Replied Varric.

Sure enough, Cassandra's lieutenant was doing battle with demons near a rift, but with Max's aid, they were able to prevail.

As they made their way into what was left of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, Solas confirmed that holes in the fade could happen accidentally if enough magic is brought to bear, but Varric thought that there were better ways of blowing things up.

Soon, they began encountering massive vitrified spikes of rock, alongside the occasional chunk of red lyrium.

"Don't touch it, it's evil." Warned Varric, before the echoes were heard.

"_Now is the hour of our victory. Bring forth the sacrifice." _Said one voice.

"Who's that?" Asked Cassandra.

"Offhand, I'd say that that's the person responsible for the Breach." Answered Solas.

"I don't know why," Said Varric, uncertainly, "but that voice sounds familiar."

"_Keep the sacrifice still." _Said the first voice.

That was when they saw the Breach.

"The Breach is a long way up." Was Varric's only comment.

"I'll do my best but I don't know if I can reach it, let alone close it." Said Max.

"This rift is the first, and it is key." Confirmed Solas, "Seal this rift, and perhaps the Breach can be sealed."

"_Someone help me!" _Said a second, female, voice.

"That's Divine Justinia's voice!" Exclaimed Cassandra.

As soon as they got close enough, Divine Justinia's voice cried out again, followed by a third voice saying "What's going on here?" Then the air in front of the rift became like a slightly clouded window.

A human-like figure of black smoke, with two white lights for eyes was revealed, with Divine Justinia suspended seemingly in midair. Opposite the viewers, Max was seen running down a flight of stairs into their midst.

"What's going on here?" Yelled Max's reflection.

"Run while you can, warn them!" Called out Justinia's reflection.

"We have an intruder." Said the black cloud-man's reflection. "Kill him now."

Meanwhile at the top of the stairs Max's reflection came down, a strange orange cloud of dust and cinders stood and another male voice said, "I wish you all the luck in the Twilight, lad. I really do." After that, the reflection faded.

"You _were_ there!" Exclaimed Cassandra, "And Most Holy, is she...?"

"I don't remember what happened." Said Max again.

"These are most likely reflections of the fade." Said Solas. "This rift is closed, but not completely. With the mark, we'll be able to open it, then fully close it. But activating this rift is likely to draw attention from the other side."

"That means demons!" Called out Cassandra, "Everyone stand ready!"

When all the archers had prepped their arrows, Max turned the power of the mark against the rift. Doing so did open it up all the way, but it did turn loose a pride demon and several shadows.

Every so often the pride demon would develop near impenetrable guard, requiring Max to disrupt the rift. But eventually one shadow managed to knock Max's blade out of his hand, allowing the pride demon to shatter it with one well placed stomp.

Max had never felt so helpless in all his life, but at that very moment, a circle of white light appeared to the left of the rift. Out of it came a sword stuck into a plinth. Both the blade and cross guard seemed to be one seamless piece of unknown, silvery-white metal, while the pommel was made of similar, yet duller, metal, while the grip was wound with red wire. The cross guard was wrought into a pair of wings and seemed to flow into the blade seamlessly.

Not knowing what else to do, Max ran to the blade and immediately began trying to remove it. Almost immediately, his mark began flaring up in a kind of "feedback" in response to touching the blade. Fighting through it, he continued pulling, until the pain suddenly stopped. Realizing this, he realized that the sword was now in his hand and free of the plinth.

He charged forward with it, but soon he was seized by a strange sensation. Everything around him was frozen and all the color was gone, leaving only shades of black and white. He also has the sensation that he was moving very very slowly.

"What's... happening?" He asked. But then the pride demon suddenly sped up and lashed at him with a whip made of electricity, striking him in the chest and causing a sensation of his heart exploding.

Suddenly everything returned to normal, or at least as normal as the middle of a battle with demons could be. He saw the pride demon gather electricity for his whip, but at the last minute, he did a sliding dodge so the whip passed over him, missing him by mere millimeters. But then the strange sensation hit Max again, and he saw three of the shade demons closing in on him and one of them dealing a killing flanking blow. Then the sensation passed again, and he saw the thee shade demons. So he slipped in between them and caused the one that he saw kill him strike another shade demon with a well-timed feint.

"What the...?" Asked Cassandra, but Max quickly explained.

"I'm sorry, I'm keeping sensations that time suddenly stops, and then I can briefly see into the future."

"Into the future?" Asked Solas, surprised.

"That sounds pretty handy." Said Varric. But there was no time now. There was still a demon that needed killing.

Eventually the demon and his shades were killed, and Cassandra called out, "Now, seal the rift!" Max did, and suddenly blacked out from the backlash.

In his dream, Max stood on a balcony covered in fog. Another figure was standing in front of him his exact details obscured by the fog. As Max tried to move toward the figure, the figure spoke.

"Do you wish to change it?" He or she asked.

"What?" Asked Max in response.

"The future?" Continued the figure.

Max didn't answer at first, but the figure continued.

"Isn't it every mortal's desire to change the future, even if everything was predestined?"

"I don't..." Said Max, but the fog was growing thicker as the figure continued, his or her words becoming more and more indistinct.

"Every soul contains a whisper of light... ...t the call to unite. ...light will guide you... your ultimate fight..."

To be continued in Chapter 3: The Inquisition begins...


	5. Chapter 3: The Inquisition begins

Chapter 3: The Inquisition begins...

Max slowly regained consciousness and sat up in his bed, just as a small elf boy came in carrying a box of herbs. Seeing Max sit up, the elf lad dropped the box in surprise.

"I didn't know you were awake! I swear!" He said, shocked and shaken.

"Nothing's wrong. I just got..." said Max before the elf fell to his knees.

"I ask your forgiveness, and your blessing. I am but a humble servant." He said in clear reverence. "You're back in Haven, my lord. They say you stopped the Breach from getting any bigger. It's what everyone's been talking about for the last three days. Cassandra said you are to report to the Chantry as soon as you're recovered. 'At once' she said." He said as he got back up and ran out the door.

As Max got up, he saw that his right hand had never relinquished the grip on the sword found in the shattered ruins, and that now he seemingly had a scabbard made especially for his sword tied to his belt. So he sheathed the sword in the sheath, and went outside.

When he stepped outside, there was a large crowd of people seemingly showing their allegiance to him while whispers ran rampant through the crowd as he made his way to the Chantry.

"That's him, that's the one who stopped the Breach from getting any bigger." Someone said.

"That's him!" Said another, "That's the herald of Andraste!"

Inside the Chantry, there was a back room where an argument was clearly going on.

"Have you gone mad!?" Said a voice that was clearly Chancellor Roderick's. "He should be taken to Val Royeaux to face trial at once!"

At that Max stepped through the door, drawing attention to himself.

"Guards! Arrest this man at once!" Said the Chancellor at once, but Cassandra countered it almost immediately after.

"Disregard that and return to your duties." At that the guards left, and there was some more debate.

"So this stranger just being here is just... what? Coincidence?" Asked Roderick.

"Providence." Corrected Cassandra. "Everything seemed lost, then the Maker sent him to us."

"'Though all before me is darkness, yet shall the Maker be my guide.'" Confirmed Max.

After that there was some more debate where Roderick made an important point.

"... but we don't know what Divine Justinia would have wanted." At that, Cassandra placed a large book marked with the symbol of the Chantry on the cover.

"What is that?" Asked Roderick, having never seen it before.

"Authorization for us to act." Said Cassandra, "As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn."

After that, messenger birds were sent out, and a message was nailed to the door of the Haven's Chantry signaling the rebirth of the Inquisition.

After that, Max began a meet and greet, meeting his advisors and the three members of his new inner circle. Both his advisors and Solas made some excellent points.

"While sealing the Breach is important, we also need to find the artifact that created it." Solas had said.

"Are you sure it hadn't been destroyed in the blast?" Asked Max, who didn't remember seeing such a thing, as was to be expected.

"The magic used to create such a thing is something I've never seen before." Replied Solas, "I refuse to believe that it was destroyed until I see the shattered fragments myself."

"I suppose keeping an eye out for it wouldn't be too bad." Responded Max after some thought.

Cullen, Josephine, and Leliana also had some good points as well.

"Some people had started calling you the 'Herald of Andraste'." Said Cassandra.

"And your new sword the 'Blade of Light'." Finished Leliana.

"I don't mind either names." Said Max, "Not at all. But now it's time to start restoring order, and we'll start in the Hinterlands in Ferelden."

To be continued in Chapter 4: The Event in the Hinterlands.


	6. Chapter 4: The Event in the Hinterlands

Chapter 4: The Event in the Hinterlands.

It seemed like something rather easy. Max and his companions were sealing rifts, and helping out the refugees, when something they had never seen fell out of one of the rifts Max was sealing. It was clearly a scroll case, but much larger and marked with a strange sunburst near the clasp.

But the moment Max picked it up something strange, terrifying, and beautiful happened. His mark flared with green energy that seemed to flow into the scroll case while golden energy flowed from the scroll case to the mark, the interactions between them causing Max intense pain. After what seemed like an eternity (though it was only 12 seconds) Max collapsed to the ground unconscious again. Max's companions, shocked and shaken, picked him up and returned him to the crossroads for treatment.

—-

Only five hours later Cassandra, Varric, and Solas watched over him nervously, not only because his mark was thrumming with a new energy, but because Max was muttering a strange verse over and over again in his unconscious state.

_What takes the world in lightened sense_

_Can also seek the outward gleam_

_They rob the all of essence to_

_Report the nothing they have seen_

_Bone extrusions gash and grind_

_In moistened depths of smacking heat_

_While tearing flesh from averse bone_

_The body whole prepares to eat_

_A writhing mass of heaped appendage_

_Slipping grasp the squirming slick_

_Extend the reach to touch the face_

_Burn the mind, reveal the quick_

_Crushing razors, hollow shells_

_That snap, that twitch, that cinch and rend_

_To hold the subject, bodily,_

'_Til mind blows soft and life meets end_

"What could all that mean?" Asked Cassandra. "It's clearly not possession, but it's something I've never seen before."

"Maybe it has to do with what he's reciting." Suggested Solas.

"Sure," Said Varric sarcastically, "Creepy eyes, shards of bone, slimy tentacles, and bloody pinchers. That's sure to open the way."

"I know what that is." Said a voice. Turning, Cassandra and the others saw one of the refugees heading toward them. The refugee continued, "It's the first sixteen verses of the Canticle of Divisions."

"Can't say I've heard of this Canticle." Said Cassandra, genuinely confused.

"I'm not surprised." Said the refugee, "It's part of the group of chants called the Apocryphal Chants."

"Why are they called that?" Asked Solas, "I've never heard of those chants."

"Again, I'm not surprised." Answered the refugee, "They were removed from the Chant proper in one of the Councils of Grand Clerics, not because they were considered offensive, but because they contained what Grand Cleric Ramona the Blind termed 'too much information, dangerous knowledge'.

"Who's she?" Said Cassandra, "I've never heard of her before."

"No kidding," Said the refugee, "She's one of the great reformers in the early days of the Chantry. It was said that her lack of external sight granted her true divine insight."

"I don't know about you," Said Varric, "but this 'Divisions' Canticle might be the clue we need to figure out what's going on."

"You're in luck," Said the refugee, pulling a book out of his bag, "I manage to have one copy here."

As Cassandra began turning the pages, no one noticed that the refugee who was talking simply vanish, like one of those beings who disappear the moment you take your eyes off of them.

—-

The Canticle of Divisions not only described the creation myth from a different point of view, but also described how 'Among the Firstborn were those who were greater in strength and stature, the Great Spirits.' The oldest and most powerful amongst them was called Alduin, who began wondering why he was not the most beloved of the Maker's children. This thought grew to it's height when Alduin refused to obey the Maker's command to bow before his greatest creations: Adam, the first man, and Ash, the first Elf.

"_I am better than both of them." Claimed Alduin, "I am created from fire and your divine spirit while Adam is created from dirt and Ash is created from dead wood."_

This ultimately led to a power struggle between the Maker and Alduin. Even though a number of Great Spirits had sided with Alduin, he was unsuccessful in his rebellion and was cast out of the Golden City. In rage, Alduin gathered his followers and broke into the mortal world intending to conquer it, oppressing Ash's descendants. One of the Great Spirits still loyal to the Maker, Kyne, drew the Maker's attention to his creation. In an act of sympathy, he gave Adam's descendants the ability to use his words, and one of those that accompanied Alduin, Paarthunax, taught them how to use those words.

Eventually the Tongues (a rough translation of the elven term for them) led a counter insurgency against Alduin and ultimately prevailed. The few surviving Tongues eventually aided in the founding of Ancient Tevinter, but could not prevail against the ancestors of the Qunari.

—-

Another part of the Canticle of Divisions spoke of the so-called Daedric Princes. To prevent them from becoming powerful enough to threaten him, the Maker gave them each a different realm and "imprisoned" (the result) them in one each. But when the Maker ultimately turned away from his creation, the Daedric Princes immediately began moving to spread their influence on the mortal world. The only thing the Maker could do was impose limitations on how they could spread their influence. What was considered the cleverest way of limiting the power of the Daedric Princes was the splitting of Clavicus Vile's power between him and a dog, which eventually became his companion Barbas.

—-

Eventually Cassandra finished reading the book. During this time, Max had fully regained consciousness.

"This Canticle is both informative and disturbing." Said Solas.

"Not the least of which is that this is seemingly the oldest part of the Chant of Light." Said Varric, "And for it to seemingly pop up out of nowhere..." he didn't finish, still disturbed by what was in there.

"We still need to to do a lot of things." Said Cassandra, "The Breach is still in the sky."

To be continued in Chapter 5: A tradgedy in Val Royeaux...


	7. Chapter 5: A Tragedy in Val Royeaux

Chapter 5: A Tragedy in Val Royeaux

The bells were ringing in Val Royeaux, in mourning for Divine Justinia's Death, when Max, Cassandra, Varric, and Solas arrived. Apparently, some of the few High-ranking Clerics had gathered the people together to denounce Max's claim to the title 'Herald of Andraste' and claim him to be a false prophet. But Max had a surprisingly effective claim that debunked it completely, especially when the Templars showed up.

"If you think I am not the rightful Herald," Said Max, planting his blade into the stone of the central plaza, letting go of the grip, and stepping two paces away from it, "let one of the Templars take the Sword of Light in hand. By the Sword's decision you shall make your choice whether I am true or false."

Lord Seeker Lucius's eyes widened slightly and he took half a step back, unnoticed by everyone else since Daniel decided to take the chance. He easily took the blade in hand, but after a second of relative calm, the blade began vibrating and shaking violently. The blade began glowing a brilliant white light and began swinging Daniel around the square as if to say 'let me go!', carving a few deep gashes into a few stone columns. It finally ended when it cut through the nearby direction sign before seemingly bouncing off of the Chantry Sister that made the proclamation against Max. What was most surprising was the fact that she was practically unscathed from the encounter with the blade.

"It's all right," Said Maxwell, picking up the blade from where it had wretched itself free of Daniel's grasp. "While it can kill demons, the Sword of Light can't cut people."

—-

It is often said that every action we make has a consequence. Bhuddists also say that deliberate actions result in future consequences. In this case, this would result in perhaps one of the worse consequences ever in the history of Val Royeaux.

—-

The first they heard of it was a noise like a hurricane coming from the south, the trees in Val Royeaux creaking in the hot dry air. A guard soon came running up from the southern end o the city and ran to Lucius.

"Lord Seeker, sound the alarms." He said, panting, "Call out the guards, do it now!"

"What is it?" Asked Lucius, also not expecting this. The guards answer made it all the more confusing.

"Dragon." Gasped the guard, then getting more of his breath back, shouted out the warning more loudly. "Dragon!"

When it attacked, everyone clearly saw that this was a completely different dragon. It only had two legs and wings where forelegs would be. But what was most alarming was when it spoke.

"_Brit grah. I have forgotten what good sport you mortals can provide!"_ It said, making the attack all the more shocking and terrifying.

Meanwhile two figures stood at the entrance to Val Royeaux. One was the most human-like if he wasn't dressed in armor seemingly made of off-white bones that were much too large to come from man or beast. But it was his companion that was the more inhuman of the two. Everyone would think that he was wearing a mask in the shape of a blue-furred cat with three scars across his nose between his eyes. But his feet, which were more shaped like cat's paws, gave a clue that he was more cat than man.

"Ready, Inigo?" Asked the man standing next to him, clenching his hands into fists.

"Ready, Dragonborn." Replied the cat-man.

When the dragon made a pass over them, Inigo successfully unslung his bow and shot an arrow right into the joint between shoulder and "chest", rendering it temporarily unable to fly. The two of them eventually ran to the plaza as the dragon hit the ground hard and slid right into the tower. On impact, the tower began listing dangerously before falling, adding 17 deaths to the casualties.

But the landing had one beneficial side effect, both Max and his party, and the Templars surrounded it and beginning to hack and slice at it. But it was proving to be rather difficult, for even Max's sword was having trouble trying to cut through the scales.

Suddenly, as Max took two steps back in attempt to try again, a circle of cerulean light appeared over the cross-guard of his blade. In it was a stylized silhouette of a dragon's head with a blade rammed in through the top and out through the bottom. Cerulean was also gathering around the blade, so knowing what else to do he gave it one hard swing. Light flowed off of the blade and into the weapons of his companions, causing them to shine with the same blue light.

Eventually the dragon attacking Val Royeaux was killed, when the man wearing the strange bone armor sliced the head, yelled, "I am that is!", and hopped on top of the dragon's head and delivering a few final blows.

"_Dovahkiin? No!"_ Cried the dragon in dismay as it died. But just as everyone involved was getting their breath back, Cassandra spotted something coming from the dragon's corpse.

"Something's happening, get back!" She cried and everyone obeyed, thinking that this was some kind of explosive final strike. But instead the scales vanished and some kind of energy was sucked into the man that had delivered the death blow.

"Dragonborn." Said the blue cat-man that accompanied him.

"Who- who are you?" Asked Max, still shaken from the battle and what he witnessed.

"I am Matthias of Skyrim." Said the now identifies Matthias. "This is Inigo of the khajiit of Elsweyr. We were investigating the rifts that were appearing in Skyrim..."

"Wait... that means," Said Varric, making the connections in his head. "You're one of the 'wanderers from another world', as they're described of in the Chant of Light."

"So I guess you know the saying 'You'll aid me and I'll aid you.'?" Said Matthias.

"I'll be happy to accept your help, if you'll offer it." Said Max, glad for more help for the Inquisition.

So with Matthias and Inigo now part of his Inner Circle, along with First Enchanter Vivienne, Warden Blackwell, and "Red Jenny" Sera, Max was now able to meet with either the Mage rebellion or the Templars. But first he was going to Redcliffe to meet with the mage before committing a major decision.

To be continued in Chapter 6: Shadows in Redcliffe


	8. Chapter 6: Shadows in Redcliffe

Chapter 6: Shadows in Redcliffe

While Redcliffe was still an option, there was a message sent from the Bull's Chargers for a meeting on the Storm Coast. While Matthias was a little suspicious, especially about the Ban-hassrath, it turned out Iron Bull was alright. They also managed to gain the aid of the Blades of Hessarian by creating the Mercy's Crest and challenging the old leader.

But while exploring some caves for a giant spider antivenom, they discovered a really worrying sight.

"What the heck are these things?" Asked Blackwall.

"They look like giant spider egg sacs," Said Varric, "But they've got Red Lyrium growing from inside of them.

At that point Max was seized by another of his visions. Blackwall was surrounded by giant spiders seemingly half-formed of red lyrium before a truly gigantic spider queen crawled down from the ceiling. He tried to block her attack with his shield but it broke right through and killed him.

"Get back, Blackwall!" Max cried, but it was too late. He was grabbed by a loop of webbing and pulled up. Max, Varric and Vivienne quickly raced to where Blackwall was taken, but he was seen higher up running from spiders seemingly made of red lyrium.

"It's no good!" Blackwall called to them, "I kill one and twenty more take its place."

Max, Varric, and Vivienne quickly raced to the cavern that Blackwall was also heading to. But when they all got there things were now seemingly worse. There was the giant spider queen, also seemingly half formed of red lyrium. She was now lunging forward intending to impale Blackwall on one of her forelimbs.

"Blackwall!" Cried Max, but at that moment a new circle of light appeared over his sword's crossguard. Unlike the first one, this one was yellow and depicted a shield with three snapped arrows surrounding it. Using it, he, Blackwall, and the others were surrounded by a sphere of perfect, yellow hexagons of light. To everyone's surprise, the spider queen's attack simply bounced off, thereby allowing them to defeat her. What was also surprising was the fact that when the queen was killed, the rest of her brood died.

With new knowledge, Everyone made ready to meet with the mage rebellion.

—

But upon arrival in Redcliffe, it was clear that things weren't all well. First they encountered a rift that twisted time around on itself, speeding some things up and slowing others down. Second, Grand Enchanter Fiona had seemingly never been to Val Royeaux and Tevinter now had control of the mages. But Alexius was able to hold negotiations at the Gull and Lantern. Things were about to begin when Felix suddenly became somewhat faint, but that was seemingly because he was passing a message to Max telling him to come to the Chantry.

Once there, Dorian was able to explain that Alexius had distorted time to get to Redcliffe before The Inquisition. Felix explained, once he got there, that Alexius had joined a cult called the Venatori and he was doing all this to get to Max.

"I certainly know one being who would be interested in all this." Commented Matthias.

Eventually it was decided to meet the Magister in Redcliffe castle while expecting the trap.

To be continued in Chapter 7: In hushed whispers...


	9. Chapter 7: In Hushed Whispers

Chapter 7: In Hushed Whispers...

_Those who had been cast down,_

_The demons who would be gods,_

_Began to whisper to men from their tombs within the earth._

_And the men of Tevinter heard and raised altars_

_To the pretender-gods once more,_

_And in return were given, in hushed whispers,_

_The secrets of darkest magic._

—Canticle of Threnodies 5:11

Max, Blackwall, Varric, Matthias, and Inigo entered the throne room of Redcliffe, with Varric, Blackwall, Inigo, and Matthias as attachés. But just as negotiations began, with Alexius boasting about the Inquisition not having something he won't already have, Felix revealed the truth.

"He knows everything, father." He said.

"Felix, what have you done?" Asked Alexius, worriedly.

"Your son's worried about you." Explained Max, "He's afraid you're involved in something terrible."

"You think you can turn my own son against me?" Asked Alexius, sounding more and more fanatical by the moment, "You come in here with your stolen mark, a power you can barely understand, and expect to defeat me?! You're nothing but a mistake."

"Father, can't you hear yourself?" Said Felix, more and more frightened, "Don't you know what you sound like?!"

"He sounds exactly like the villainous cliché we all expect him to be." Answered Dorian.

"I'm going to die and you just can't accept that." Said Felix. "Release the mages, forget the South and let's go home."

"No, Felix," Said Alexius, "The Elder One can save you, if I just undo the mistake at the Temple." That peaked Max's interest.

"What do you know about the Divine's death?" He asked.

"It was supposed to be the Elder One's greatest moment." Answered Alexius.

"Who is this 'Elder One'?" Asked Matthias, sarcastically, "Is He some mage who is so powerful and dangerous you can't say his name out of fear?"

"Soon, He will be a god." Said Alexius, his voice neutral, but his face betraying that he didn't like that. So Matthias pressed his verbal attack.

"In my expert opinion," he said, "Your 'Elder One' is nothing more than a useless pretty-boy who doesn't have enough brains to fill an egg cup. He finds some powerful, ancient artifact (probably Daedric in origin, maybe even entering into a pact with Clavicus Vile) and allowed it to blind himself to the consequences."

Alexius clearly had heard enough at that point. "Guards, seize the blasphemer!" But it was then that Alexius realized what Matthias was doing. He was, in fact, stalling him thereby allowing Inquisition agents to kill his soldiers.

"Your men are dead Alexius." Said Max, but Alexius clearly wasn't done yet.

"You are a mistake." He said, pulling an amulet out and charging it with magic, "You should have never existed."

"NO!" Cried Dorian, smacking him with a magical charge. What happened next clearly wasn't supposed to happen, but in hindsight it was still useful.

—

As it turned out, both Dorian and Max had been sent a year forward into the future. Not that the future was any "good". Blackwall and Varric had been corrupted by red lyrium; Leliana had been tortured and heavily scarred; the Breach had practically swallowed everything, including the sky; but it was Matthias' fate that was truly frightening.

Max had heard of werewolves before, but this was clearly more than any werewolf. His skin had been replaced by dark red scales with blood red "slashes" speckled randomly around said hide; and his head had seemingly been replaced by a head that resembled a high dragon's head. Matthias had also been chained to the wall of the cell he was found in.

"Matthias transformed into this after Inigo was executed before his eyes." Explained Leliana. At that Matthias woke up and began growling threateningly, but seemingly recognized Max by his scent. "So your mind isn't completely gone." Said Leliana upon seeing this.

Eventually, after seeing many mages that he met in Redcliffe either driven mad or consumed/possessed by demons (Connor was one of those), they made it back to the throne room. It was clear, on seeing Alexius, that he had personally seen his life go down in flames. But when Leliana took Felix hostage in order to "win back the world", and eventually slit his throat, Alexius clearly went mad and underwent a shockingly inhuman transformation.

Alexius was replaced by a dendroid form with several legs ending in bovine hooves. At the top were four extra long tentacles as thick as tree trunks and tipped with mouths that brought to mind a horrible combination of long-beaked birds and serpentine mouths. The thick body was speckled with gaping maws dripping with unidentifiable, smelly, goo.

Almost immediately Leliana and Matthias charged, but Max was immediately overwhelmed with a vision of one of the "beaked" tentacles knocking her into the air from below ground before seemingly "biting" her to death. When the vision ended, a new symbol appeared on the sword's crossguard. It resembled a (greatly simplified) human figure seemingly running at great speed leaving trails of wind behind it.

"A new symbol?!" Said Max to himself in surprise, "Can I use it to save her?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Of course you can." Said a voice, seemingly from nowhere but oddly familiar.

With this new symbol, They were able to defeat the monster that Alexius had become. In the remains they found his Staff of Stasis, a strange page seemingly torn from an extremely old book depicting the same figure they just fought, and an amulet.

"This amulet is similar to the one we made back in Minrathous." Said Dorian picking it up. "Which means that, give me an hour, and I can use it to send us back in time."

"You don't have an hour." Said Leliana, "you need to go now!" At that, there was seemingly a bestial roar, which Leliana identified as "The Elder One!"

While at first distraught that Blackwall, Varric, Matthias, and Leliana would throw their lives away for him, Leliana's reassurance hardened his resolve.

"We're as good as dead already. The only way to save us is to make sure this future never happens."

"We'll hold them back as long as we can," Confirmed Blackwall as he and Varric went to hold the doors. "Leliana, Matthias, you're the last line of defense."

When the spell to return was nearly finished, the door was broken down, Blackwall and Varric's lifeless corpses falling to the ground in the throne room. Leliana was shooting arrows at every demon while Matthias was mauling every Venatori he could lay his claws on to death, and feasting on their hearts to keep his beast rage going as long as possible. But when Matthias finally fell and Leliana was surrounded and about to be disembowled by terror demons, the rift opened and sent Dorian and Max back to the place in "history" when they left it.

—

The very first thing that Dorian said when they got back was, "You're going to have to do better than that."

At that Alexius fell to his knees as though one who has been utterly defeated.

"Put aside all claims to Redcliffe and let the mages aid us." Said Max, as an ultimatum.

"You won." Said Alexius, "There's no point extending this charade." Turning to Felix he said, "Felix, I'm sorry."

"I'm glad for this father." Replied Felix.

"You'll die..." Said Alexius, despondently.

"Everyone dies." Replied Felix reassuringly.

"Glad that mess is sorted out." Said Dorian, but at that point the personal bodyguard of King Alistair and Queen Elnora entered the throne room, along with Alistair and Elnora themselves. It was clear that the two of them had tolerated the mages presence long enough and wanted the mage rebellion out of Ferelden. But Matthias had something surprising to say.

"You are High King and Queen of Ferelden?" Asked Matthias, bowing to them. "I am honored to meet you."

"Thank you." Said Alistair, not expecting this.

"Must be a cultural thing." Said Dorian.

"I said to Maxwell while we were in Redcliffe Village that there was someone who would take interest in what happened here. He's here now and can probably explain what happened.

"I'll be glad to hear an explanation." Replied Alistair. "Where is he?"

"Like I Said, he's here right now." Answered Matthias, "He's right behind you."

Everyone was expecting to see perhaps an extremely old mage who's advanced years come from absolute "mastery of magic". But when they saw him, they couldn't have been more wrong.

What they saw was a greenish-Black "hole" in the air filled with squirming tentacles and replete with eyes. When they drew close an even larger eye appeared and opened up, showing a figure eight-shaped pupil. When the "hole" spoke, it's voice was deep and echoing, as though it was something immeasurably old calling out from the bottom of an immeasurably deep well.

"Come closer." It said. "Approach and bask in my magnificence."

"Not to be rude, but you hardly look magnificent." Said Dorian.

"I am neither surprised nor offended at your comment," Said the "hole", "For I am Hermaeus Mora. I am the keeper of the unseen and the seeker of the unknown. All knowledge eventually makes its way to my Library of Apocrypha." Then the main eye shifted to Max, "Your passage forward and back through the waters of time intrigues me, because you succeeded where so many others failed."

"You mean I'm not the only one?" Asked Max, surprised.

"You are not the first to make such an attempt." Said Hermaeus Mora. "Once you deal with the Breach, be prepared to deal with the Elder One and his forces. You have thwarted his plans twice now, once at Andraste's cradle, and again here at Redcliffe. One who aspires to the divine is not going to simply ignore it, or forgive and forget it."

"No offense meant," Said Max, still surprised, "but how do we know we can trust you?"

"I am as true to my word as fate and as inevitable as the march of time." Said Hermaeus Mora, "He will strike, he will seek revenge." Then upon seeing Matthias, he laughed "deeply", "I know you, Champion. Like I said before, the Oghma Infinium was only the beginning. I am glad to see that you're aiding the Inquisition. Their legend will grow with yours." At that, the eye closed and the "hole" disappeared.

"Well there's something you don't see every day." Said Dorian.

Afterward, Max decided to grant the Mage Rebellion full membership status with the Inquisition. Not long afterward, Max as well as the mages decided to get some much needed rest. Vivian, Solas, and Dorian were most interested in Hermaeus Mora, but Matthias warned that he was the most subtle of the Daedric Princes, but still not to be trifled with.

To be continued in Chapter 8: In your heart shall burn...


	10. Chapter 8: In Your Heart Shall Burn

Chapter 8: In Your Heart Shall Burn...

_Then the Maker said:_

_To you, My Second-born, I grant this gift:_

_In your heart shall burn_

_An unquenchable flame_

_All-consuming, and never satisfied._

_From the Fade I crafted you,_

_And to the Fade you shall return_

_Each night in dreams_

_That you might always remember me._

—_Canticle of Threnodies 5:7_

With the Mage Rebellion firmly allied with the Inquisition, everyone was getting ready for the sealing of the Breach. But it seemed that the mages wanted fair treatment right away. Fortunately Matthias was doing a good job as the "voice of reason" within the Inquisition.

"Once we deal with the Breach," Said Matthias to one such mage, "we will work to meet your demands one step at a time."

"How do you intend to..." began the mage.

"Deal. With. It." Said Cassandra, making it clear that the conversation was over.

—

Vivienne was concerned with the large numbers of mages that were now in Haven, and that abominations were inevitable. She suggested that Cullen train some new templars, but Max had something to add to that.

"Do train templars, but keep them well hidden. Let the mages think they're not being watched." To which Vivienne agreed.

Meanwhile it was determined that the Templars had all holed up in Therinfall Redoubt. Some scouts, with some aid from Iron Bull's Bull's Chargers, determined that the Templars there had joined up with a larger force. There was red lyrium nearly everywhere and also the evidence of a demonic presence in there.

Varric, however, was more concerned about Max's "dark vision", as it was now known. What was most alarming to him was the report of red lyrium being everywhere.

"That punches a huge hole in my '_The red lyrium at the Temple was just a coincidence.'_ theory." As it was, Varric was writing to every mining caste in Orzammar to find out where the red lyrium was coming from.

Max's current plan was to catch his breath, put up his feet, or maybe take a nap. But one more surprise made itself known.

Apparently, the land of Skyrim (where Matthias was from) was in civil war in a similar way that Orlais was, with the Empire of Cyrodiil on one side, and Ulfric Stormcloak and his forces on the other. Apparently both of them had heard of the Inquisition and sent one of their best scouts, each, to investigate. But before they could conduct their own investigations, they had crossed in midair and began to fight. But fortunately Iron Bull was able to pull them apart before they could draw their weapons.

"You can tell your leaders that the Inquisition was formed to restore order in a world gone mad," Said Max, "And our first order of business is to repair that." He finished, pointing out the Breach to them. When they finally noticed, it was clearly a shock to both of them.

The imperial scout, since he wasn't wearing a close-faced helmet, was clearly too gobsmacked to respond; while the other one simply said "Shor's bones...".

—

While on the way to the main rift of the Breach, there were two brief halts.

The first was when the staff of one of the mages struck a leftover paving slab from the Temple that sounded hollow. Urgently, Max ordered the mages to find the edges, and when they did, a secret chamber was found underneath that slab and in that chamber was a very strange book.

It was three feet long by two feet wide by one foot thick and bound in ivory ringed with steel. The very first page seemed to show the author of the book. While he was clearly a young man, his name was a bit of a mystery: Howard-Phillip of House Lovecraft. Dorian explained who he was and what his house was, even though it wasn't reassuring.

"House Lovecraft was one of the Great Houses of Ancient Tevinter." He had explained, "They were descended from the priest of the Old God of Chaos, and were foremost in the earliest explorations of the Fade. The problem was that they were very secretive about what they learned, and what they did share left such an incomplete picture of the Fade that other scholars had to do their own research. It wasn't helped that House Lovecraft died with Howard-Phillip's death at the young age of 47 just after he finished his magnum opus but before he could present it to the Senate."

"And if this is that work..." Said Max as he began turning the leaves of the book. But most of the pages were missing, and those that weren't were completely blank. But then he remembered the page that had fallen from Alexius' corpse in the dark future. Pulling it out and comparing it to the book, he simply said "I wonder..." and placed the page on top of the front cover. In a sight that would send chills down anyone's spine, the page sank into the book and seemingly disappeared with a strange humming/buzzing sound.

What probably made it even spookier was the fact that when he opened it, the page was fitted perfectly into the book and the page opposite it was suddenly filled with text.

"What it says here," Said Max, reading the information, "is that there is a Great Spirit named Shub-Niggurath; one of his titles is_ 'The Black Goat of the Fade with a Thousand Young'_; and Alexius, in that dark future, was turned into one of those 'Young'."

"That wasn't very reassuring." Said Vivienne.

The spookiest part was that there was now a title to the book on the page immediately behind Howard-Phillip's portrait: _Pars magna de spiritibus et de Culpa._

—

The next strange thing was the appearance of a similar plinth to the one that held the Sword of Light when it was originally found. So Max decided to plunge the sword into that plinth and see what happened. What DID happen was similar to the Fade "mirror" back at the Breach, but was clearly showing something else.

—

It showed a man who was clearly wearing Nordic-style Armor standing next to a woman clad in plate armor that clearly resembled the Figure of Armored Andraste. They were standing in front of an Elven mosaic that seemed to depict two stylized dragons, one black and the other white. The black one was marked by a dark spiral, while the white one was marked by a seven-pointed Star. As they looked the man began to recite something that was clearly part poem, part something else.

"_Minions of doom, gathering strength,_

_Threatening all with Eternal night._

_Until the One upon whom we wait_

_Encounters the invincible Beast of the Light._

_A slumbering Great One will stir,_

_Bring to an end the long-waging war._

_Then to his tomb he'll return_

_Until it is needed once more._

_Two separate-and-same worlds;_

_Two different lands cradle war-weary bones_

_Which gravely await the summons;_

_Of the inevitable impeding battle moans._

_Abandoned we're not, Yet_

_His absence aches, as if hope were cut deep._

_Oh cruelest of victories,_

_How in winning, we lose our great savior to sleep."_

He then turned to the woman standing next to him and asked, "And now what do you think Freya?"

"Me? I..." Said the woman, but the man shook his head.

"No, Freya. You're thinking. Don't think. Let Akatosh speak to your heart, as you claim to say."

"I..." Said the woman "I just don't know. I mean, even the Maker doesn't know. It's just that..." she said, struggling to find an answer. "I don't think we should be waking one of those 'Great Spirits' up."

"You're right Freya." Said the man. "It isn't a good idea to disturb a Great Spirit lightly. For when one Great Spirit is roused from slumber, even the stars will tremble."

—

"'_When a Great Spirit is roused from slumber, even the stars will tremble.'" _Said Max, shuddering slightly. "If the Breach opening could destroy the Temple of Sacred Ashes, I'd shudder to think about what a Great Spirit would do if it became wide awake."

But sealing the Breach was priority, and unraveling the mystery of the book and the vision would have to wait until later.

To be continued in Chapter 9: The Wrath of Heaven...


	11. Chapter 9: The Wrath of Heaven

Chapter 9: The Wrath of Heaven

Those who oppose Thee

Shall know the wrath of heaven.

Field and forest shall burn,

The seas shall rise and devour them,

The wind shall their their nations

From the face of the earth.

Lightning shall rain down from the sky,

They shall cry out to their false gods,

And find silence.

—Canticle of Andraste 7:19

There was a bit of a surprise when they spotted an elven mage dressed in completely different clothing than one of the Mage's Circle. What was even more surprising was the fact that Matthias seemed to know him.

"Quaranir it here is a member of the Psijic Order." Explained Matthias, "They are, how you say... the oldest Circle of Magi in Tamriel. The only real problem is that they're extremely selective about who becomes part of their Circle, and they're extremely secretive. Because of these two things, no one really knows how powerful they really are. But more importantly," he said, turning to Quaranir, "Why are you here?"

"The Psijic Order were concerned with the strange rifts that have been appearing all over Tamriel. Only a few of them are really 'active', while one of them seemed to lead to this unknown world."

After explaining who they were, Quintus clearly had more questions than answers, but was able to answer a few of their own.

"From what you've told me," He had said, "Thedas (which is this world) and Mundus (which is where Matthias and I are from) have been, for lack of a better term, joined together into a symbiont circle. So basically, what happens to one of these worlds will affect the other one."

"So if that isn't dealt with," Said Max, indicating the Breach, "It will have an impact on not only Thedas, but also Mundus as well?"

"It does." Said Quintus simply, "And if you truly are trying to seal it, you have found an ally."

"Does that mean you'll help us?" Asked Matthias, hopefully.

"Accept it or not," replied Quaranir, "you shall find that the Psijic order will gladly aid you."

—

Afterward, it was time to seal the Breach. The most powerful members of the Circle, one of which was equipped with the Staff of Magnus (whom Matthias described as the Maker's "royal chief architect") were gathered at the Breach with instructions to 'focus past the Herald, let his will draw forth from you'.

With their aid, Max was finally able to seal the Breach, much to (not) everyone's delight, as you'll soon see.

Back at Haven, everyone was celebrating the closing of the Breach. Dorian was seemingly debating magical theory with Quaranir, while the Imperial and Stormcloak scout decided to settle something with an old-fashioned mead-quaffing contest between the two of them. But both Max and Matthias were staring up the Valley not really taking part. The warning of Hermaeus Mora was still ringing in their heads. Cassandra came up to them and asked them why they weren't taking part in the celebrations. Max made it plain in his words, "It's too early to celebrate."

Alas that Max had spoken true, because the sounds of marching forces made their way to their ears and the sight of many torches moving toward them revealed themselves.

Max, Dorian, Varric, and Iron Bull; as well as Matthias and Inigo made their way to the front gates where Cullen delivered a strange report.

"A large armed force is moving towards Haven."

"Under what banner?" Asked Josephine.

"None." Answered Cullen.

"None?" Asked Josephine, surprised.

At that point Max, Matthias, and their allies had reached them. Not long afterward there was frantic banging on the door and a voice calling desperately, "I can't come in unless you open!" Upon opening the main gates a Venatori gladiator dropped dead revealing a young man wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

"I'm Cole. I'm here to warn you, to help."

"Warn us against what?" Asked Max.

"The Templars come to kill you." Said Cole.

"Is this their response?!" Asked Cullen, incredulously, "Blindly attacking in response to our alliance with the mages?!"

"The Red Templars have gone to the Elder One." Said Cole, "You know him? He knows you. You stole his mages from him." Turning and pointing Cole continued, "That's him, there."

"I know that man," Said Cullen, "But who's that next to him?"

"He's very angry that you stole his mages from him." Said Cole.

"Mages! You have clearance to engage!" Ordered Cullen, "That is Samson. He will not make this easy!"

"I'll slow them down as much as I can!" Said Matthias, climbing to the top of a nearby scaffold and facing the Red Templars.

—

Meanwhile, the Red Templars were continuing their march to Haven when strange words started to be heard by the keener-eared scouts.

"There is a fell voice on the air." commented one of them.

"It's the Dragonborn!" Cried a second, who had been in Val Royeaux when the dragon attacked. At that moment there was a cracking noise and several boulders fell down from a precipice, proving that, while there is no 'i' in 'team', there was definitely an 'i' in 'squish'.

"He's trying to bring down the mountains on our heads!" Cried one of the survivors. "Samson, we must turn back!"

"No, keep pushing!" Commanded Samson, but that command would end up with a lot more dead then he would have liked.

Meanwhile, Max, Varric, Iron Bull, and Dorian were able to defeat the Red Templars who were already attacking Haven and had freed the second trebuchet. They had used it to cause a slide on one mountain while Matthias, using the Thu'um, had caused a lightning strike to hit the other mountain, thereby imprisoning a large number of Red Templars in tombs of snow. But the cry for joy at the combined shot didn't last long as a strangely twisted high dragon appeared and attacked.

Max immediately knew that his troubles were compounded, since the Red Templars were more resistant to his blade than the dragon that attacked Val Royeaux, even with his 'enchantment' in place. Almost instantly everyone knew to take refuge in the Chantry, so Max and his allies, as well as Matthias and Inigo, divided at the gate to Haven to rescue as many people as possible.

This way they were able to rescue Seggrit, Threnn, Minaeve, Adan, Flyssa, and Lysette. But once they were inside Haven's Chantry, they immediately began debating the problem they had.

"Haven's not a fortress, and that dragon stole back any time we might have won with that first avalanche." Said Cullen, analyzing the situation.

"I once saw an Archdemon in the fade," Cole said, "it looked a lot like that."

"We still have one more trebuchet," said Cullen, "If we could trigger another slide..."

"That's not a feasible option." Said Max, "To hit the enemy, we'd bury Haven."

"The Elder One doesn't care about the village." Said Cole, "He only wants the Herald."

"Why does he want me?" Asked Max, knowing pretty well that this was the enemy that Hermaeus Mora had warned him about.

"I don't know," said Cole, "He's too... loud. Can't get a good look or feel."

"It doesn't matter since he's basically boxed us into a corner." Said Matthias. At that Roderick, who had been mortally wounded by a Templar seemingly stared past the temporary War Room and Cole seemed to pick it up.

"What?" Asked Cole, following his gaze. "Yes, there. Cullen, Roderick knows something. He wants to say it before he dies."

"There is a path," said Roderick, weakly, "but you wouldn't know it unless you walked the summer pilgrimage, as I have."

"Are you certain?" asked Max, not really believing it.

"If there is a path," answered Matthias, "it's the only way out." He then cast a brief healing spell on Roderick to give him enough time to guide them.

Soon Cullen gave the command for everyone to follow Roderick's path while Max, Matthias and their allies made their way back toward the entrance and toward the final trebuchet.

When they got there, they found Red Templars ready and waiting, but they were ready as well. Inigo and Matthias immediately engaged the archers while Max and his group dealt with the others. During each lull in the fighting, Max turned the trebuchet a little more toward the target.

But before the final turn could be completed, they were attacked by a Red Templar Behemoth. It was clearly both wretched and intimidating, even more so when it screamed. But Matthias had a clear advantage: a greatsword forged of dragonbone and experience fighting larger foes.

With one clean blow, he cut right through the larger leg, rendering it unable to stay upright. As it fell, Inigo plunged his sword into its skull, ending it's misery for good. After the final turn, Max gave the order, "Go, I'll meet up with you later." While everyone else obeyed, Matthias slowed up, seemingly to catch his breath. But then quieter than an ordinary nord he slunk back. It was a good thing he did, because Max was confronting his nemesis.

"Exalt in the Elder One. The WILL that is Corypheus." He had said.

"Whatever you are, I'm not afraid." Max had attempted to retort, but Corypheus wasn't impressed.

"Words mortals often hurl at the darkness. Once they were mine." Retorted Corypheus, pulling out a black sphere out of an unseen pocket. "But I'm here for the Anchor, and the process of removing it begins now." At that red energy flared around his hand and his orb, and the now named Anchor flared green in seemingly sympathetic energy, causing Max great pain.

"Andraste meant for me to have it." Managed Max as the pain receded briefly.

"Then Andraste meant for me to kill you, because the Anchor is a prize I cannot let escape." Corypheus retorted again."

"_So that is what you think, do you?_" Thought Matthias to himself, unshouldering his bow while taking in everything that was said "_Very well, we'll see._"

"What you flail at rifts," Corypheus said as he intensified the magic, "I crafted to storm the Heavens themselves. To champion withered Tevinter and give the world the nation, and God, it deserves."

"_So you're not only the one who created the Breach, but you also fancy yourself a New-age Talos_?" Thought Matthias, readying an arrow.

"You interrupted a ritual centuries in the planning," Corypheus had continued, "and you used my creation to undo my work. The gall!"

It was at this point that Corypheus had grabbed Max by the arm and held him close to his face to make sure that he got these words. Matthias lurking behind a snow bank listening with all his might.

"I once breached the fade in the name of another. To serve the Old Gods of the Empire in person. I found only chaos and corruption, dead whispers. For a thousand years I was confused but no more! Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the Throne of the Gods, and it was empty."

Matthias had heard enough at this point. He drew his arrow back and let it fly. It struck Corypheus in the back, near the shoulder, with such force that the tips of the three serrated pieces of dragon bone that made up the arrowhead pushed themselves out of the the exact opposite side. It was enough to get Corypheus to drop Max, thereby enabling Max to plant the Sword of Light's blade into Corypheus' side. As he was working on keeping the blade in there, he was overwhelmed by what was clearly another vision, but this one was a series of scenes with no real connection.

"This must be the mountain summit." Said Vivienne as his sight was dominated by an unfamiliar landscape with a smaller mountain with what appeared to be a massive cloud of smoke coming from the summit.

"Greetings, true Herald of Andraste." Said something that looked like Corypheus, but instead of having red lyrium imbedded in his body, he was covered in a strange energy (he couldn't identify it since all his visions were in black and white).

"You who seek power," said a beast that looked similar to the dragon that attacked Val Royeaux but had spiky, black scales with dark red light seemingly shining between certain scales. "Utter unto me the prayer,"

"What, or who, are you?" asked Iron Bull, his face wearing an expression of utter disbelief.

Then there was a scene where the sword of light underwent a startling metamorphosis, gaining a different shaped hilt (obscured by the blade's glow), a longer blade and a hook-shaped tip.

"You will pay for what you've done!" Max had yelled while brandishing his new blade.

Next Matthias was using a Shout, he had called it, to bring the black dragon crashing to the ground while his new blade was plunged into the dragon's head (the blade was shining too brightly to show any details.).

The final scene showed Max moving toward the now crippled dragon while saying, dramatically, "You shall know the pain and suffering your arrogance caused the Secondborn."

Then Max came back to the real world with him and Matthias standing near the last trebuchet, while confronting Corypheus.

"The anchor is... permanent." managed Corypheus, in clear pain. "You have... sp-spoiled it in your stumbling. I will not suffer... a rival, even an... unknowing one."

At that there was a fireball launched into the sky from a good distance, and Max new that everyone that had survived had gotten out of range, so he decided to end the exchange in a fitting way.

"Your arrogance blinds you, that is good to know." Said Max. "If we're going to die, it will not be here!" Then he kicked the lever mechanism of the trebuchet, causing it to launch a final blow upon the mountains behind Haven. Corypheus' "Archdemon" seemingly picked him up and flew off, while Matthias and Max fled down a wrong road into an area near the trebuchet which led them to one of the sealed off passages into the mountains. But the force of the avalanche created a shockwave that hurled Max into the barrier and Matthias into Max, the combined force breaking through the barrier and into an unknown cavern.

To be continued in Chapter 10: The Road to Skyhold...


	12. Chapter 10: The Road to Skyhold

Chapter 10: The Road to Skyhold

_And as the Children of Adam, First Man,_

_Made their stand against the Dark One_

_upon the Throat of the Earth, _

_The Children of Ash, First Elf, gathered_

_Upon the Holy Mountain, and cast_

_Their seal to hold the Sky._

The Canticle of Divisions, 7:13

Who knows how long Matthias and Maxwell were unconscious (but it was only an hour), but when they both came to, they found themselves in another cavern. Matthias was the first to get his wits back.

"Come on, Max," he said pulling Max to his feet, "We need to get out of here." Then he took a look around him, especially at the wall of powder that blocked their way into their cavern. "Go back? No good at all. Go sideways? Impossible. So the only way out is forward."

"On we go then." Said Max, half in resignation and half in anticipation.

—

The next cavern they found on their path had a few demons in it, but it was there that Max made a new discovery. Corypheus attempting to claim the Anchor from him had charged it with new magic. He could now deploy a temporary, unstable, rift to instantly kill weaker enemies and severely damage stronger ones. While it was impressive, it still left them with a ways to go.

—

Finally they got to the end of the cavern and saw light of stars and moon and knew they had found their way out.

"Quite a shortcut to the other side." Said Matthias, pulling out a personal journal and turning the pages to where he made a rough map of Haven when he first arrived, and adding to it a map of the shortcut they had discovered, along with proper annotations.

But there was still the problem that they now had to deal with, since they were in a practically unexplored part of the Frostbacks and miles away from any civilization. But Matthias was more comfortable with this kind of thing, so Max decided to simply follow his lead.

—

After several miles it was clear that Max wasn't as "durable" as Matthias was in traveling in severe winter weather. While Max was struggling with frostbite, Matthias was as hindered by the snowstorm as a normal person is by a normal rainfall.

Soon, Max was struggling to even move his limbs to keep moving forward, so Matthias decided to pick Max up and carry him on his back, both to keep going and attempt to warm him up. Not long afterwards, they found a campfire ring that still had embers in it, which meant that it was used recently. Then they spotted lights in the distance which meant that a large campsite was ahead, if not a full on settlement. Matthias began making his way toward the lights when he heard voices that made him really glad.

"Look, it's them!" Cried Cullen's voice.

"Thank the maker!" Cried Cassandra in relief.

Matthias placed Max in their care for severe frostbite while he began reporting what he had learned at Haven to Leliana, Cullen, and Josephine.

—

Later, Max was now fully recovered and had woken up in the middle of an argument, which Matthias was doing his best to act as the voice of reason. Revered Mother Giselle did her best to keep Matthias calm, but it was the report that Corypheus had said that the heavens were empty that inspired her to reassure Max with another thing.

"Perhaps these are lies Corypheus must tell himself instead of accepting that he earned the scorn of the Maker. I know I could not bear such."

Shortly afterward, Giselle began singing _The Dawn will Come, _and soon everyone began joining in (not Matthias, he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket). Giselle then reassured him that "sometimes doubt is needed to strengthen faith."

Solas asked Max to come with him, so they could exchange a few, private words.

"The magic Corypheus used against you," said Solas, "the dark orb Matthias reported Corypheus carrying, it is elvish in origin."

"You clearly know what it is," said Max, "What is it, and how do you know about it?"

"I have seen several such things in my study of the Fade." Answered Solas, "They were foci, used by the ancient elves to channel ancient magicks. Corypheus might think of it as Tevinter, but many of Tevinter's magical lore were built on the bones of the elves."

After some more questions, Solas said something of importance to everyone.

"In attacking the Inquisition, Corypheus changed it. Changed you. Lead the people to the north. There is a place where the Inquisition can rebuild, grow stronger."

—

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away...

Corypheus lay on a table as several Venatori surgeons labored to remove the arrow from his shoulder.

"Whoever forged this arrow certainly knew a thing or two about arrows." Said one. "Having the barbs on the inside means that it smoothly goes in, but grabs on to prevent it from being removed easily."

Soon two skeletons walked into Corypheus' room. What made them different was the fact that they had strange stones seemingly held in place with red lyrium where normal people would have their hearts and seemingly acting like normal people.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Said the first, who was wearing heavily corroded plate armor.

"I am getting so tired of your constant negativity." Said the second, who was wearing tattered mages clothes.

"Well I'm not the one who lost the false Herald." Countered the first.

"I didn't lose him, he's just missing." Counter-countered the second.

"Skelly! Bones!" Snapped Corypheus, breaking off their argument, "have you found the Anchor?"

"Well not to tell you how to do your job," said the second, Bones, "but a better question should be, 'where is the false Herald?'."

"And where is he?" Asked Corypheus, already not liking this experiment of one of his mages.

"He's missing." Said Bones.

"Got up and left." Added the first Skelly.

"Disappeared without a trace." Confirmed Bones.

"But you should have seen this outlandish warrior we encountered." Continued Skelly.

"He was as silent as the forest." Commented Bones.

"Swift as the wind." Added Skelly.

"And struck like thunder." Continued Bones.

"With a blade like lightning." Finished Skelly.

"But what we're trying to say is..." said Bones.

"It was a dark and snowy night." Finished both Skelly and Bones.

"So you lost him and now you can't find him." Said Corypheus, fighting off an incoming cluster headache.

"Not to tell you how to do your job, but can you do a better job at finding him?" Asked Bones.

"Finding anything is easy... for a Dumatti." Said Corypheus. At that point another darkspawn came out of the shadows, but what made him different was that he resembled Corypheus enough to suggest a kinship. But instead of red lyrium imbedded in his face and chest, he was "human-like" enough to pass amongst humans if he didn't have red and black stripes on his face, yellow eyes, and what looked to be a crown of hornletts under his mages hood.

"This is my apprentice, Vrak'moul." Said Corypheus, introducing the newcomer to everyone. "He will find your 'missing' herald."

As Skelly and Bones left with Samson it was clear to them that the stakes were getting higher.

"This is getting out of hand!" Said Skelly.

"Now there are two of them!" Said Bones.

"We should have not made this bargain." Agreed Samson, but what he was talking about nobody knew.

To be Continued in Chapter 11: Welcome to Skyhold...


	13. Chapter 11: Welcome to Skyhold

Chapter 11: Welcome to Skyhold...

_The High Keepers of the Elves, Children of Ash_

_Chose their location to hold back the sky_

_Because Alduin, first of the Firstborn,_

_Enraged at his exile from the Golden City,_

_Broke through the sky with his followers at_

_This point; and the Keepers cast their seal_

_To render Alduin vulnerable._

Canticle of Divisions 8:1

While on the way to the place that Solas said that the Inquisition could rebuild itself, another new thing was learned about Matthias: he was a man of near-insatiable curiosity. Whenever the Inquisition passed by a cave entrance, Matthias would be the first to want to go inside. While useful things were rare, and often led to either red herrings or minor animal dens, there were one or two discoveries that were considered really important.

—

In one cave was found a "memory pedestal", as Quaranir started calling them, which seemingly contained "memories" of Andraste and the Vestige from the Second Age that the Chantry had either never heard of or had forgotten long ago. One memory pedestal held this memory:

A man seemingly lay unconscious among corpses of strangely twisted creatures. Blackwall thought that they might be a forgotten sub-race of darkspawn when the man who was now as the Vestige ran into view of the memory.

"Malf!" He cried, before beginning field medic healing to keep him on this side of life while saying things like "stay with me!" 'Malf' was propped up next to a rock inside the cave when he finally regained consciousness.

"Mmmf... heh..." he said, opening one eye, "Guess I screwed up that time, eh?"

"Don't move!" exclaimed the Vestige, "You need to conserve your energy so you don't lose more blood."

At that point Andraste rushed into view of the 'window' calling, "What happened?"

"Your friend here thought it was a good idea to charge headlong into a falmer hive." Said the Vestige, before angrily turning to 'Malf', "We have a group of sayings in Skyrim known collectively as the 'Words of the Hoarfather'. One goes like this: _The soul of one who craves for Sovngarde condemns the souls of those around him to Oblivion, not just his own."_

"Maybe we should take this as a lesson." Said Max, "When you take unnecessary risks, you put those around you in danger as well."

—

In another cave they found something unusual for all people concerned. There were several corpses of darkspawn that were clearly slain by precise strikes, presumably by the person or thing that was crouching, or kneeling, in the center of a clear space. But what was even more unusual was when the now identified person spoke.

"Hmmm... what is this I sense?" He had said, "Another blighted creeper? Or a creeping cave rat?" When he stood up and turned around, those viewing him were left with more questions than answers since he was wearing a mask with a scowling frown, and an extremely long nose.

"Ah, but I am wrong." He had said, "Two mortals I sense that are not-so-mortal. One burns with the Dragonfire at his heart; the other has a hand that blazes with the white light."

"You can sense my mark?!" Asked Max in surprise, "Who are you?"

"I am the Tengu that has been assigned to you by the Yellow Emperor." Said the man.

"The Who?" Asked Max. The answer was a bit more confusing, but precise at the same time.

"Auriel, Auri-el, Alkosh, Akatosh, the All-Father, the Maker. Many are the names and titles for the Yellow Emperor."

"So by the way you refer to Akatosh, I can guess you're not from around here." Said Matthias.

"And where would you say that I am from?" Said the now-identified Tengu.

"Well..." said Matthias. "Judging by your clothes, your manner of speaking, the style of your blade, and the way you sink your teeth into those W's, I'd say... Northwestern Akavir."

"Highest marks to you, Dragonborn." Said the Tengu, sounding pleased.

—

When the Tengu was brought back to the Inquisition, everyone had a lot of questions to ask him, even though some of his answers were more confusing than others.

"So if you have been 'assigned' to us by the maker..." said Josephine, "Does that mean that he's finally ready to return to us."

"Not quite." Answered the Tengu, "He still mourns the death of his brother. But it would be hard to ignore something like the opening of the Breach and the return of the Dovah. Such an event happening would be like dropping a boulder the size of a landed noble's mansion, grounds included, into the emerald waters of the fade. The redirection of the waters of time where the cliffs are Red warranted an investigation by the Yellow Emperor."

"His brother?!" Asked Revered Mother Giselle in surprise.

"Your Chant has hid a serious flaw in the Divine Order for centuries." Replied the Tengu, "If there was only one god, the Secondborn would not have free will."

"So..." said Varric, "what exactly is this Divine Order?"

"The One is the one who sits on the Throne of the Gods; The Nine are his Divine councilors who answer directly to him and to no others. Then there are the Ambassadors who serve as intermediaries between various other races, and not just the humans."

"You said that the Maker is still 'mourning the death of his brother'." Said Leliana, "What happened? How did he die?"

"The Yellow Emperor and his brother, Lorkhan, simply did not get along with each other." Explained the Tengu, "They were identical twins, yet exact opposites in every way. A disagreement over what role the mortal world would serve eventually drove the two brothers to war, which culminated in Lorkhan's heart being cut from his body and sent to the mortal world by his brother. But this act caused Lorkhan's rebirth to be problematic at best."

"Why, what happened?" Asked Max, ignoring the Chantry scribe scribbling down everything discussed.

"Because Lorkhan had two different roles, according to either the Children of Ash or the Children of Adam, it caused his identity to split in two." Replied the Tengu, "For those who viewed Lorkhan as a defender and hero of mortals, those thoughts gave rise to a white god who eventually named himself Shor, in accordance to the Nords who viewed him so. For those who viewed him as an evil trickster, those thoughts gave rise to an evil deity, a Black God." Then he paused as if in sudden thought, "But since he has hidden his real name, we would still need something to identify him. So... Chernabogg. I like it. Chernabogg is the name we will use."

"But why would that be the reason why the Maker turned away from us?" asked Cassandra, still a little confused.

"For all that Lorkhan has betrayed him," Said the Tengu, suddenly sounding much older, "he was still the Yellow Emperor's brother, and he could not bear to see his brother's blood clinging to his weapons and armor."

"That actually makes sense to me." Said Max, much to everyone's surprise. "In Ostwick, we have something called a _blood guilt_, which is a kind of curse that clings to you like the blood of the person whose death you are involved in."

"Wait a minute, said Matthias, who had been counting on his fingers while naming the "divine councilors" in his head, "You said that there were _nine_ Divine councilors, but I was only able to account for seven. Who are the other two?"

"They are the two mortal souls who proved themselves to the Yellow Emperor through their deeds," answered the Tengu, "Andraste, and Talos of Atmora."

"Andraste I can understand," said Matthias, "Talos, not so much. I've been exploring the abilities Solas says I have, and I've been having trouble finding evidence of any deeds that would warrant such a reward."

"That is because you haven't been using Talos' truename." Replied the Tengu.

"You don't think I've tried?" Asked Matthias.

"A true name as in a _birth _name?" Replied the Tengu. At that, Matthias looked thoughtful for a moment, remembering something that happened at Old Hroldan.

—

Another unusual thing that happened was the discovery of a jester near a cave with a wagon missing a wheel, and carrying a large box. But what was more unusual was the fact that Matthias seemed to know him, if only by a little bit.

"Cicero!" Exclaimed Matthias, "What are you doing here? I thought you said you were going to bury your mother."

"Cicero was!" Exclaimed Cicero right back, "But poor Cicero spotted a hunched figure on the road dressed in a dirty, hooded robe. Cicero tried to make him feel better with some jokes, but the figure pulled his hood away from his face and Cicero felt strange. He felt like he would never be cheerful again. He almost felt like... his old self." And when he said 'his old self', his voice briefly took a deeper, creepier tone.

"Sounds like you encountered a despair demon." Said Max, having encountered one or two of those.

"But that wasn't the worst of it, or the last of it." Said Cicero, returning to his old, high voice. "Cicero fled with his mother, and must have taken a wrong turn at Morthal because he found himself and his mother here." He said, gesturing at the mountains randomly, "And if that wasn't enough to add to Cicero's troubles... Agh, wagon wheel! Damndest wagon wheel! It broke off Cicero's wagon and ended up down there." He cried, gesturing toward the cave.

"Well, it seems like I'll help you again." Said Matthias, "But I thought your wagon wheel was repaired at the Loreius Farm."

"Not that wheel," Cicero said, angrily pointing at the front left wheel, "That wheel!" He said, pointing at the back right wheel.

"Alright then." Said Matthias, as he, Blackwall, Dorian, Sera, and Max went toward the cave. "Oh, by the way, I really like your dagger."

"Ooh, you like it?" Asked Cicero, giggling with delight. "Cicero got it when he made a new friend, after we dined on cheese together."

"Cheese?" Asked Matthias, "Interesting."

But no sooner had Max found the wagon wheel than hundreds of twisted figures began racing up from deeper in the cave.

"Fly, you fools." Said Matthias, that simple statement sending more of a warning than any shout. And fly they did, all the way back to the slope that lead to the cave's mouth.

But someone had sent a flaming barrel rolling down the slope before yelling "Get clear, ya idjits!" It was clear that those twisted things didn't like the flaming barrel and fell back a little bit, thereby giving Matthias, Max and their companions time to race up the slope. But no sooner did they exit the cave mouth than a massive explosion went off, flame shooting out of the cave mouth and the pressure knocking everyone off their feet.

As Matthias and Max regained consciousness, the figure that "helped" them was spotted repairing Cicero's wagon. As it turned out he was a dwarf that was a bit more... feral than expected.

"Okay laddie," he said, turning to Cicero, "that's fixed now."

"So you're the one who saved us from those things?" Asked Max.

"Aye, that I am." Said the Dwarf, "Name's Torvin, a beast hunter."

"You know you could have killed us with that blast." Said Matthias.

"Well you're the one that decided to head headlong into a Falmer Hive, so you're not one to talk." Replied Torvin.

"Falmer?" Asked one of the mages. "Is that a kind of darkspawn?"

"Well I don't know what a 'falmer' is," said Blackwall, "But I know what darkspawn are and those things were not darkspawn."

"Too true, too true." Said Torvin, "I brought several slain specimens to Orzammar once, and they were surprised to learn that there was no trace of Blight in their bodies. Oh and by the way, laddie." He said, turning to Max, "I've been looking for that shiny blade you're carrying for a while now."

"Well I think you'll be disappointed." Answered Max, "It seems that I'm the only one who can wield it safely."

"Ach, you can keep it," replied Torvin, "'cuz I found me something even more valuable. Me new huntin' partner."

"I'm hunting an enemy greater and more terrible than could be possibly imagined, so I'm afraid that I'm not interested." Said Max.

"Even if it leads you to the shiny shield that goes _with _that sword?" Asked Torvin. At that, Max reconsidered. Torvin continued, "We're both hunting the same thing, yours just happens to be... really old, and in one particular beastie's lair."

"So I'll think about it for now." Said Max.

"So if you ever find yourself in or near Whiterun, look me up. I've got a huntin' camp nearby." Said Torvin, strolling away.

—

There was one minor thing before the Inquisition finally reached Skyhold. Matthias had been on night watch for the past few days and had finally gotten some much needed sleep. But when he woke up, he reacted in the most reasonable way to waking up and finding two 18-inch tall humanoid things next to him.

"Waaaaagh!" He screamed loud, hard, and long to draw attention to himself from the watch. Everyone was surprised to see the two things next to him, mainly because of their inhuman features that both of them possessed. They had long, pointed ears; small, stubby wings; digitigrade legs; and a small, spade-tipped tail. But it was the Tengu that had a real explanation, even if it was confusing to everyone who heard it.

"You appear to have created a pair of 'blood spirits', or 'oni', as they are known in Akaviri culture." He said.

"But I never liked using blood magic," said Matthias, "and I don't know what I did, I was asleep."

"I do remember a case where one blood mage arrested by the Imperium was discovered to be a chronic sleepwalker." Said Dorian, remembering. "OUR mages circles were at a loss of how to prosecute him because they had no idea if the demons he summoned were consciously summoned or not."

"I remember a case where a man, who was also a chronic sleepwalker, murdered his sweetheart in his sleep, believing her to be an attacker." Said Blackwall, "He was eventually assigned to the Grey Wardens, because both the judge, jury, and prosecutors had trouble determining whether he was conscious or not when he did it."

"But you must be careful with these two all the same." Continued the Tengu. "The ultimate goal of any 'blood spirit' such as these two is to acquire a name."

"Is that so?" Said Matthias, placing both his hands on the heads of the two oni he had summoned. "To the one on my right, I name Chikara, for it is through him that that the Power of Akatosh is revealed; to the one on my left, I name Chie, for it is through her that the Wisdom of Akatosh is revealed."

The Tengu muttered something under his breath, but Inigo's sharp hearing heard it clearly, "That wasn't what I meant."

—

Finally the Inquisition arrived at their destination. There was a mountain that was separate from the others by a good deal, and on its peak was a fortress that was supposedly their destination, which Solas confirmed.

"Skyhold."

There everyone took in there new base of operations, but there was one more discovery. In between the first and second flights of stairs was another memory pedestal, and what it contained was surprising.

Standing in front of the pedestal, seemingly amid temple ruins, was the Vestige. He seemed to be wrapped in some kind of memory as he spoke.

"A long time ago, this mountain was one of three Ground Zeroes in the first War Against the Chaos. Where Al-du-in, Great Spirit of Destruction, broke through the sky at this very point with his followers and assailed the ancient Elven civilization with war. Though some among the Children of Adam would come to worship him, all would fear him. When the Secondborn were in greatest need, Kyne, daughter of Akatosh, brought Akatosh's words to the Secondborn, which Paarthunax would teach them to wield. Then the War raged, Dragon against Tongue, but it was a war that could not be waged long term. Eventually, a three-pronged strike was arranged between the first Tongues, the Elves, and the other mortal races.

While the greatest of the Elven High Priests would gather here to seal Alduin's breach, the Tongues would engage him in battle on the Throat of the World, where the Children of Adam took their first breath. Meanwhile, a Last Alliance of all the mortal races would march in war against Alduin's greatest city, Bromunjaar.

While all three strikes were ultimately successful, and brought victory to the Secondborn at the war's conclusion, it came at a terrible cost. So many lives were destroyed in the attack on Bromunjaar that there was no feasting or song that night; what had always been for the Elves of Thedas was now gone forever; and three quarters of the Tongues, the first masters of the Voice, were never seen again.

In their grief, the ancient Elves of Thedas completed their last great building here on this very site, to remember what once was, how it was taken from them, who was responsible, and the great loss that was the price of their victory."

Meanwhile, behind him were Maferath and Andraste. Maferath was sniffling slightly, and Andraste had fallen to her knees and was crying with all her heart.

After such a revelation, Max eventually decided to become the Inquisitor, partly because he had already been leading them. But it was his dedication of the Inquisition that proved that Andraste had made no mistake in choosing him as her herald.

"Corypheus will never let me rest peacefully. That much he has made clear to me. He intends to be a god, to rule over us all. I don't care if he can succeed or not. Corypheus must be stopped, or my dark vision will come true."

Eventually all the crowds acknowledged Max as their Inquisitor, and there was much to do before anything real serious could begin.

Cole was eventually discovered to be a spirit that hadn't possessed anybody, much to everyone's confusion. But Max, now officially Inquisitor Trevelyan, decided to allow Cole to stay. Cole was glad at this, and glad that the Inquisition was doing its best to help those who are hurting.

Eventually, Max and his advisors entered into Skyhold's main hall to discuss what was to be done next. But there was an interruption by someone nobody expected.

"What happened here?!" Cried a man with similar hair to Max's who had come into the main hall. "Some Archdemon have a hissy fit?!" Everyone looked at him in surprise, but Max was the only one who knew him, seemingly.

"Unc?! Uncle Jett?!" He said, surprised to see him.

"Hey! Is that you, Max?" Asked Jett, somewhat glad. "Nice monkey suit, kiddo." He complimented, before turning all serious, seemingly, "Now get back to Haven and clean up that mess. I know you did it, so don't even try to get out of it."

"Maker, you're a party-pooper. Aren't you the least surprised I'm now the leader of the Inquisition?"

"Are you kidding me?! Nothing surprises me with you anymore." Replied Jett, "You're always sticking your nose into trouble. It's just like that mess with that Argonian barmaid and the Tome of Worms."

"Oh, come on!" Cried Max in exasperation. "That was different. I was just..."

"I'd hate to interrupt this family reunion," said Varric, "but our Guest of Honor has just arrived. He's fought with Corypheus before, and might be of some help."

"If Varric has brought whom I think he did, Cassandra's going to kill him." Said Leliana.

"But what was this about an 'Argonian barmaid' and a 'Tome of Worms'?" Asked Josephine.

"Eh, it's a long story." Said Max, shrugging slightly, "I'll tell you later."

_To be continued in Chapter 12: Welcome to Skyrim..._


	14. Chapter 12: Welcome to Skyrim

Dragon Age: The Lost Scrolls, Chapter 12: Welcome to Skyrim

_...But the Land of Skyrim, the Skald-King's home,_

_Is not for the weak and fragile, whether body our soul._

_The freezing cold, howling winds, and icy seas,_

_traversed by beasts primeval, ensures that the cunning_

_thrive to see true beauty and value, while the dull find_

_only death._

Canticle of Vestiges 7:7-11

Everyone was getting ready to repair Skyhold since it was now the Inquisition's primary base of operations. But there were a free surprises, mainly with the repairs and what they revealed. For instance, a fallen chandelier was discovered to be dwarven manufacturing, but with no smith-mark. So it was decided to restore it because it showed that the person who had obtained it originally was quite familiar with logistics and finance. But there were a few others.

As it turned out, Skyhold's "Guest of Honor" was indeed Hawke, the Champion of Kirkwall. This did cause an argument between Varric and Cassandra later, but Max made it clear where he stood on this.

"We need to trust each other, Cassandra, and you'd better not be hiding anything else from us, Varric."

But fortunately Varric was able to make it up to Cassandra by presenting her with the next chapter of _Swords and Shields_, even though he considered it one of his worst serials. But there was one unusual thing that Hawke said that made everyone confused.

"So whatever happened to Andrew the Great?" Max had asked.

"He was overtaken by madness, and is no more." Hawke had answered, much to Max's confusion.

There was also a case where a new guy wanted to join the Inquisition, but he was seemingly destined to do everything wrong. He couldn't swing a blade properly, he had absolutely no stealth or secret-keeping abilities, and he was really bad at diplomacy. But Matthias was able to get him a surprisingly good job for the inquisition "that only someone like him can do", much to everyone's confusion.

Max and Cullen found this out the quickest way possible when they went to Skyhold's smithy. No sooner did they step through the door then someone dropped a brick from the second floor balcony onto his head.

"Ow! Geez!" Said the recruit, "That was a three-star impact, Wally! This helmet needs work."

"Really?" Said Walter, who was in charge of the smithy. "I'm pretty sure those alloys from the Forbidden Oasis would have been one star. One and a half, at best."

"But at least I'm not seeing any birds this time." Said the new recruit.

"I thought about putting that stubbornly thick skull of his to work." Explained Matthias, upon seeing the perplexed looks on Cullen and Max's faces.

—

Another unusual thing was what had happened overnight to Chie and Chikara (though he now called himself Chikaro). Both of them had doubled in height overnight, lost their wings and tails, had had their ears become somewhat less pointed. But the most radical changes to them were their color and form. Chisako had become a bright red with a slightly paler belly and had developed subtle masculine traits (which was, in part, why he now referred to himself as Chikaro), while his sister Chie had become a deep ocean blue with a sapphire underbelly and had developed subtle feminine traits. But they still viewed Matthias as a father of sorts, so Matthias was working on teaching them basic literacy, which helped shatter a presumption that Nords like Matthias were illiterate.

—

A final thing was the result of a summoning circle crafted by the Mages under the direction of the Tengu. While Max allowed the summoning, there were a few Templars nearby just in case. But before the basic summoning spell learned by any mage, there was a brief flash and the resulting spirit was... not what anyone expected.

While he did look mostly human, he was a strange mishmash of features. Slim shoulders and arms, sunken chest, pot belly, wide hips, and a clubbed right foot. But it was his face and head that was even more unusual. Large lips, big nose, almond-shaped eyes, and a misshapen, elongated head.

"Whoa, how did you...?" Said the mage who had been leading the summoning. "Aren't you supposed to wait until we complete the summoning?"

"I knew you were going to complete the summoning." Said the spirit, stepping out of the ring with seemingly no problem. "I read minds. I foresee the future."

"Well, okay." Said Max, "Maybe you can tell us what some of us are thinking."

"First off, you were born in Redcliffe and spent most of your life there." Said the spirit.

"Actually I was born in Ostwick." Said Max, confused.

"When you were only ten years old, a blood mage poisoned your father." Continued the spirit, "And since you were an undiscovered mage, you made a desperate deal with a desire demon to save him."

"Ack!" Exclaimed Connor suddenly, "He read my mind!"

"You! Yes, you!" Said the spirit, "that was whom I was talking about. As for you," he continued, turning to Josephine, "you are having trouble believing that Max's power over Fade rifts is magic cast by Corypheus. You believed that it was a sign that the Maker was at long last ready for return to his children. But you," he said turning to Max, "you believe that the Maker set these events in motion so long ago that we can no longer see his hand in this. That answer is the right one, because it was I that revealed the coming of all this chaos to him 900 years before it would actually begin."

"Uh oh, uh oh, I think we grabbed an Oracle." Said one of the mages who had participated in the summoning. "Can tell the future, uh oh."

"Well no wonder we can't see the Maker's hand in this." Said Max, in a tone that said 'isn't it obvious?', "If foreseeing the future is a very, very difficult thing, imagine how difficult it would be to predict an event that would only happen centuries after your death."

"Also," Continued the spirit, "you may find that the Crossroads in the Hinterlands has become the crossroads for a little more than two roads. Use the anchor on what you find there, go through the result, and you'll find out what land that Matthias is from."

At that Matthias' entire inner circle, minus his advisors since they were helping out with running the Inquisition and the repairs to Skyhold, gathered their gear and weapons together and set out for the Crossroads. While they were leaving, it appeared that the spirit they had summoned had become a bit of a tourist attraction for Orlesian nobles.

"Tell us more, O wise child of the maker." Said one male noble.

"First off," began the spirit, "I cannot believe what you did to your puppy."

—

When they got to the Crossroads, they saw a large crowd gathered around something that had formed there. Though what that something was was a little different than what they expected.

It was clearly an inactive rift similar to the one that they encountered in the Fallow Mire after several Inquisition soldiers got taken captive by Avvar. It was also where Max met the Avvar Skywatcher that was now part of his Inquisition. But what made it different was that it was pale blue, a shade darker than the sky, instead of green.

But when Max applied the Anchor to it, the end result was what looked like a blue-white whirlpool leading to somewhere other than the fade. But Matthias and Inigo recognized it immediately and began walking though it. While everyone else at the crossroads hung back, Max and his inner circle decided to bite the bullet and enter.

—

The land on the other side was as different from the Crossroads as possible.

"Judging from where we landed," said Matthias, giving a good look around, "we appear to be in the volcanic tundra south of Windhelm in Skyrim. So this means that this land IS Skyrim."

Max and his circle were still digesting the fact that they were in another world altogether when a man wearing a white handkerchief on his head came up to them.

"I've been looking for you." he said to Matthias, "Got something I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only." Then after perusing his letters, he pulled it out saying "A letter. Not sure who from, he wouldn't say, just that he was a friend of yours."

But the letter was a little more confusing, but Matthias seemed to know more about who wrote it."

_M._

_I can't say everything I'd like to in this letter. It's too risky in case the letter gets intercepted. I've been doing my own research into the portals that have been appearing over Skyrim. Meet me at Dragonsreach in Whiterun. I'll meet you there._

_Your friend,_

_L.F._

"Who's this 'L.F.'?" Asked Iron Bull, "Are you certain he's not an enemy."

"I'll introduce him to you myself." Said Matthias, folding the letter up and tucking it inside his armor.

_To be continued in Chapter 13: There... and Back Again..._


End file.
